BALTIMORE –
Tyson Commander and
Deon Perry each scored 17 points, and key plays by both freshmen late in the game helped Loyola University Maryland men's basketball secure a 73-70 Patriot League victory over visiting Lafayette College in Reitz Arena.
Commander made a step-back three as the shot-clock expired with 1:17 remaining in regulation, giving Loyola a 69-64 lead, and after the Leopards made a three of their own, Perry connected on a pair of free throws to push the lead to four.
Josh Rivera hit a trailing three from the top of the perimeter for Lafayette with 21 seconds left, and it was a one-point game, but
Kenneth Jones knocked down two free throws with 15 seconds left for Loyola to give the Greyhounds a three-point lead.
Lafayette took the ball over mid court and called a timeout, and after the break, 3-point attempts by Rivera and Devin Hines were off the mark, preserving the Greyhounds' win.
Commander's 17 points tied his career-high, while Perry's 17 continues a strong stretch for him in which he has averaged 18.7 points over the last six games.
Perry picked up two fouls in the game's first eight minutes and sat the remaining 12 on the bench after scoring five points in the opening minutes. Commander's play picked up much of the slack, however, as Loyola outscored the Leopards by 22 in the first half during the nearly 15 minutes Commander played. He finished with seven points in the opening half.
Loyola led by 16 at halftime, going up 39-23, on a
Golden Dike putback with 65 ticks on the clock.
Lafayette quickly whittled that lead down to 39-31 on a CJ Fulton three at 17:52, but just over seven minutes later, an
Alonso Faure basket in the paint made the advantage 15 for Loyola, 56-41.
The Leopards had another run in them, scoring 18 out of 24 points to trail by just three, 62-59, after a Rivera basket at 3:14.
Faure, who scored 13 points and had eight rebounds for Loyola, had baskets on back-to-back possessions, pushing the lead to five each time, but Lafayette had answers for both, and Ryan Pettit's only points of the game on a layup and free throw with 1:45 on the clock, cut the margin to a pair, 66-64.
Commander's step-back three buoyed the Greyhounds' lead to five, but Fulton knocked down a Lafayette three, and it was a two-point game again. Loyola had a turnover on the ensuing possession, but Jones came up with a steal for the Greyhounds on the defensive end, and Perry was fouled and converted two free throws with 26 seconds left.
Fulton dribbled into the frontcourt and dropped a pass to a trailing Rivera for a three five seconds later, and the lead was again down to one with 21 seconds on the clock. Jones hit both free throws, and Rivera and Hines' shots misfired for the Loyola win.
The Greyhounds shot 53.2 percent from the field in the game, and they went 15 of 17 (88.2 percent) from the free-throw line.
Jaylin Andrews added nine points for Loyola, and
Golden Dike had eight and a team-best nine rebounds. Jones dished out seven assists, and Commander had three steals.
Loyola is back in action on Saturday, February 18, with a 4 p.m. game in Annapolis, Maryland, at the U.S. Naval Academy.
