Galgos en España – Men's Basketball 2023 Foreign Trip

Loyola University Maryland men's basketball will board a trans-Atlantic flight on Friday, August 18, to embark on a trip of a lifetime that will take the Greyhounds to Spain for nine days. The trip is made possible through generous philanthropic support to the program.

The Greyhounds will spend time in Bilbao, the largest city in Basque Country, and visit the Santurio de Loiola, a sanctuary built around the birthplace of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order.

After leaving Northern Spain, the Greyhounds will travel to Madrid, Spain's largest city with more than 3.4 million residents. In the capital city, Loyola will tour the city and also have a private tour of Real Madrid and its home ground, Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

Later in the week, the team will transition to Alicante. Located on the Mediterranean Sea,  Alicante, the hometown of current Loyola post player Alonso Faure with a rich tradition as a beach city.

Throughout the trip, the Greyhounds will experience many cultural tours and events, and they will play games in each city. Current Loyola players from Spain – Golden Dike and Faure – will have a chance to play in front of home-country supporters, while fellow Europeans Milos Ilic and Veljko Ilic will be on their home continent.

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DAYS ONE & TWO – BALTIMORE TO BILBAO

The Greyhounds left the Evergreen campus in Baltimore on Friday afternoon and headed to Washington Dulles International Airport to board an Iberia flight to Madrid. After an overnight crossing the Atlantic, the team moved on to Bilbao on the northern coast of Spain where it would headquarter for the first part of the trip. A tour of Bilbao's old city allowed members of the team to begin to see parts of the Basque Country's rich heritage, cuisine and sights.

DAY THREE – FIRST GAME

Sunday afternoon brought on the Greyhounds' first game of the trip when they faced the Bizkaia Bilbao's U-23 Team. The Greyhounds jumped out to an early lead, which they maintained and extended throughout the game. Loyola shot 57.6 percent from the field and finished the game with 25 assists to just 12 turnovers against Bizkaia. 

Seven Greyhounds scored in double figures, led by Tyson Commander's 19 on 9 of 13 from the field. Deon Perry and D'Angelo Stines also added 15 points each, while Alonso Faure (14 points, 14 rebounds) and Golden Dike (12 points, 13 rebounds) both had double-doubles in their first time playing in Green & Grey in their native Spain. Samuel Gibbs tallied 12 points, and David Brown III scored 10, while Milos Ilic added eight.

After the game, the travel party enjoyed a postgame meal in a typical Basque Country barbeque setting with outdoor seating in the rolling hills outside of Bilbao. Later, many members of the team and staff visited the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao where contemporary art and sculpture thrive along with historic and cultural areas of Bilao.

DAY FOUR – SAN SEBASTIAN

The Greyhounds drove just over an hour from Bilbao to San Sebastian, a city that features some of the most beautiful beach area on the continent with gastronomic delights and old world charm for visitors. Lunch and a walking tour for members of the team showed players and staff much of what San Sebastian is all about.

That night, the travel party bid adieu to Bilbao to prepare for a morning departure that would take in on the next leg of the journey.

DAY FIVE – SANCTUARY OF ST. IGNATIUS LOYOLA & MADRID

On Tuesday, the men's basketball program became the first team from Loyola University Maryland to visit the birthplace and home of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, commonly known as the Jesuits. The tour and oral history of Ignatius' background and conversion from nobility to pilgrim and later to the founder of the Catholic order gave the travel party a deeper understanding of the foundation Loyola is built on. 

Throughout the tour of the family compound that was from Medieval and Renaissance times showed many connections to the Evergreen campus, which is the home to the first college named Loyola in the United States. From the seal of the Loyola family and its similarity to Loyola University Maryland's to the stained glass in the home that matches that of the Humanities Building on the Evergreen campus, there were physical attributes that gave connection between the locations.

After the tour, the travel party discussed how St. Ignatius of Loyola built a foundation that the men's basketball program tries to emulate to this day, being of service to others while executing a growth and learning mentality. Staff and players all contributed to the discussion about how the day's experience ties in to the philosophy of winning and engaging as a team.

The team departed Loyola and drove to Madrid where it will spend the next two days in the capital city of Spain. A walking tour showed the team many of the sights of Central Madrid and a welcome dinner was hosted by the program's tour partner, Complete Sports Management.

DAY SIX – MADRID

After a great outing at the Sanctuary of St. Ignatius Loyola, the Greyhounds traveled to Madrid where they spent the next two nights. The full day in Madrid began with a tour of Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, home to Real Madrid F.C. The program got behind-the-scenes access to see a history of the club – both of the soccer team and the basketball side – that has been the most dominant in European competitions over the years.

Loyola travel party members also had the chance to learn about the renovations at the stadium that included a pitch that is taken below ground between games for maintenance, all while receiving artificial light and perfect temperatures for growing conditions. The stadium, which is undergoing a seating bowl renovation was being setup for the next Real Madrid F.C. match with the turn being brought back to the top level.

That evening, the Greyhounds played their second game of the tour, a contest against Spanish Select Madrid, a team comprised of professional players from various teams around the city. Loyola started fast and then withstood a strong rally that saw the Select team lead by as many as seven in the second quarter.

Loyola came back to retake the lead at halftime and hold off the professionals, which a day prior had lost to UCLA by 10, for a 78-73 victory. Tyson Commander again led the Greyhounds' scoring effort, making 8 of 12 shots for 20 points, while D'Angelo Stines had another strong game, adding 16 points and three assists. Golden Dike registered his second double-double of the trip with 10 points and 12 rebounds in the city he called home for several years while studying and playing prior to college. Alonso Faure added nine points nad seven boards, while David Brown III scored eight and both Milos Ilic and Samuel Gibbs had five.

DAY SEVEN – ALICANTE

Loyola spent its final night in Madrid before getting on a fast train to Alicante on Thursday morning. The Greyhounds traveled just over two hours by train to the Mediterranean Sea destination that is the hometown of senior Alonso Faure. The travel party checked into its hotel for the remainder of the trip and took a walking tour with local guides who showed the rich history of the old city and some of the new sights with the beach, harbor and waterfront.

DAY EIGHT - ALICANTE & VALENCIA

Loyola's first full day in Alicante gave the travel party an opportunity to explore the area, including members of the group who hiked the trail to the top of Castle Santa Barbara, a historic location that overlooks the water and the city.

After a pregame meal, the team departed for a 90+ minute drive to Valencia, the region's capital, where it would play its final game of the tour. The Greyhounds took on a team from Valencia Basket Club on its home floor and jumped out to an early lead. The game tightened in the third quarter as the Valencians enjoyed a 2-to-1 advantage in free throws, and late in the fourth the home team eventually took the lead.

Deon Perry, who led all players with 18 points, put Loyola back in front with a 3-pointer, but Valencia scored on two-straight possessions and came away with a three-point win.

In addition to Perry's 18, D'Angelo Stines closed his tour with his third-straight double-figure scoring game, adding 13. Golden Dike (13), Milos Ilic and Alonso Faure (both 10) all had double-digit rebounding games.

DAY NINE – ALICANTE

The ninth day provided the travel party one more opportunity to relax, soak up the Iberian sun and grow together as a team before returning to the United States. The Greyhounds jumped on Adventurer Catamaran Alicante for a trip up the Costa Brava on the Mediterranean Sea. After assisting with raising the sail on the catamaran, the Greyhounds cruised for nearly an hour before anchoring in 20 feet of water. The group jumped into the sea and enjoyed the azul waters with views of nearby cliffs.

After the cruise, the team took several hours to enjoy the beach in Alicante and the remainder of the town before gathering for one final dinner of tapas and Spanish cuisine.