BALTIMORE –
Deon Perry made two free throws with 43 seconds left, and his defense on a Miles Brewster driving layup twenty seconds later gave the Loyola University Maryland men's basketball team an opportunity for a game-winning shot in the final seconds, but two attempts were off the mark, and Boston University left Reitz Arena with a 68-67 Patriot League win on Saturday evening.
Perry drove the left side with less than eight seconds left, and his layup attempt in traffic went off line, but
Alonso Faure was there for the rebound. He threw a pass out to
Kenneth Jones on the top-left of the perimeter, but his 3-pointer at the buzzer drew rim and bounced off.
The near comeback happened after Boston University erased a 12-point halftime deficit with a 15-0 run to start the period and eventually went up nine with 12:22 left in regulation.
Jones made a three at the 10:02 mark in the second half to trim the Terriers' lead to four, 59-55, and it gave him 1,001 points in his Loyola career. He became the 41
st player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
He had another step-back jumper at 9:19 to get Loyola within a pair, but Walter Whyte scored in the paint 13 seconds later for Boston University.
Jones then knocked down another three, one of his four in the game, at 6:49, and it was a 61-60 Boston University lead, but Whyte pushed it back to a three-point advantage with two free throws a minute later.
Jaylin Andrews hit a three from the top of the arc at 3:46, and the score was tied at 63-63. Jonas Harper answered, however, with a step-back three as the shot clock expired on the ensuing possession, and the Terriers were in the lead the rest of the way.
Brewster made two free throws at 1:26, and Boston University led by five before
Veljko Ilic converted in the paint for Loyola 16 ticks later.
After the Ilic basket that made it a three-point Terriers lead, Whyte, who led all players with 18 points, misfired on a three, and Perry grabbed the rebound while being fouled. He made both at the line with 43 seconds on the clock, and it was a one-point game.
Boston University used more than 20 seconds on the shot clock before Brewster tested Perry on the right side of the lane, but Perry held his ground, and a Brewster layup was off the mark.
Faure grabbed the defensive rebound for Loyola, and the Greyhounds called a timeout with 17 seconds on the clock.
Nothing came of the halfcourt set for the Greyhounds, so Perry drove to the hoop with time winding down in the final sequence.
Jones finished with a team-high 16 points. Perry scored 12 of his 14 in the game's first eight minutes on four 3-pointers, and Andrews added 11. Faure scored nine, and Ilic had eight.
Golden Dike grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to go with his six points.
Loyola continues Patriot League play on Wednesday, February 8, with a road game at Army West Point that is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
