BALTIMORE – College of the Holy Cross flipped a four-point halftime deficit into an 11-point lead in the second half, and the Crusaders then held off a late Loyola University Maryland charge on Saturday evening for a 70-67 Patriot League victory in Reitz Arena.
Loyola led by as many as six in the first half and was up 35-31 at the break behind 19 first-half point by
Deon Perry, but Holy Cross scored the first five of the second half to lead after a Bo Montgomery three just 62 ticks into the period.
The lead switched hands four times after that and was tied on four occasions, but another Montgomery three at 12:04 gave the Crusaders the lead for good.
Holy Cross extended the lead to as many as 11 on a Caleb Kenny bucket with 7:19 left, and the advantage was 59-59 following a Wil Batchelder three with 3:02 on the clock.
Loyola quickly chipped away at that lead a
D'Angelo Stines step-back three and then five-straight from
Alonso Faure. A traditional 3-point play with a layup and free throw by Faure with 52 seconds left made it a 69-67 game.
Loyola got a stop defensively following a Faure steal, but the Greyhounds missed a tying shot attempt with seven seconds left.
Montgomery pulled down the rebound and was fouled; he made 1 of 2 at the line, and a last-second 3-point attempt by the Greyhounds went off the back of the rim.
Stines scored a career-high 19 points, and
Garrett Brennan scored 10 to go with a game-high six rebounds. Brennan and Stines tied for team-high honors with four assists each, and Perry had four steals.
Loyola will be on the road for its next game, a 7 p.m. contest in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, February 7, at American University.
