WEST POINT, N.Y. –
Deon Perry topped the 20-point mark for the third game in a row, finishing with a career-high 30 on Wednesday night, and the Loyola University Maryland men's basketball team picked up a road victory at Army West Point.
Perry, who scored 25 at Coglate and 22 on Saturday versus Lehigh in the Greyhounds' first two Patriot League games, was 5 of 8 from the field and 9 of 10 from the free-throw line in the second half to score 20 after the break as Loyola overcame a 39-31 halftime deficit.
The sophomore guard has scored 20 or more in three-straight games twice in his career now after also doing so in February 2023. He is averaging 22.8 points over Loyola's last five games.
The Greyhounds shot 60 percent (12 of 20) from the field after halftime and finished with a 52.2 percent (24 of 46) mark in the game. Just as importantly, Loyola held the Black Knights to 9 of 25 (36 percent) from the field after the break following a first half in which they made 15 of 25 shots (60 percent).
Loyola got the eight-point Army West Point lead down to two, 41-39, with a Perry floater at 17:33, but Army West Point pushed its advantage back to five on three separate occasions.
The Greyhounds had taken a 49-48 lead on a
Milos Ilic dunk off a Perry baseline out-of-bounds pass, but T.J. Small responded with two threes on Army West Point's next two possessions, the second making it 54-49 Black Knights with 11:08 on the clock.
Perry made two free throws on the ensuing Loyola possession, and he converted a
Garrett Brennan steal into a driving layup on the next.
Alonso Faure then put Loyola in front, 55-54, with a putback at the rim with 9:05 to play.
Loyola would stretch its lead to seven, 64-57, when Stines drew a goaltending call against Army West Point with 4:44 left in regulation, but Ryan Curry brought the margin back to four with a three for the Black Knights.
Perry scored for Loyola with a layup at 2:43, and the Greyhounds led 66-60, but Josh Scovens scored his first points of the game for Army West Point on a runner in the lane at 1:40, and Loyola's lead was trimmed to four.
Army West Point had an shot to get with a possession as Curry got into the lane, but
Golden Dike blocked his shot, and kept the Black Knights off the board.
From there,
David Brown III and Perry made sets of free throws around a missed Army West Point three, and after Blake Barker made a three for the Black Knights with 10 seconds left, Perry closed the game by making one of two with eight ticks left.
Stines finished with 10 points, and Dike just missed following his triple-double on Saturday against Lehigh with a double-double against the Black Knights. He scored nine and had a game0high 12 rebounds to lead Loyola to a 29-20 advantage on the boards. Dike also had three assists and a game0high three steals.
Ilic scored all six of his points in the second half after getting into early foul trouble. Faure added six, while Brown and Brennan each scored five.
Army West Point's first-half success was keyed by Abe Johnson in the paint. Johnson made all seven of his field goal attempts in the first half and had 16 points when he converted a hook shot with 4:06 to go in the first, giving the Black Knights a 33-23 lead.
Led by Dike, Loyola bottled him up in the second half, and he made just one free throw following that basket.
The Greyhounds also held Scovens to three points on the late 3-pointer; he entered the game leading the Black Knights with 13.1 per game.
Loyola returns to Reitz Arena on Saturday, January 13, for a 5 p.m. game against Boston University.
