BALTIMORE – Holy Cross ended the first half on a 9-0 run to trim a one-time Loyola University Maryland lead to 33-30 at the break, and the Crusaders extended the run to 28-8 in the first seven minutes of the second half to go on for a 70-65 Patriot League victory over the Greyhounds in Reitz Arena.
The Greyhounds trailed 50-42 with 13:37 left in regulation but trimmed the Holy Cross advantage to a point, 50-49, with 11:15 to play, and
Tyson Commander gave Loyola a 51-50 lead less than a minute later with a basket in the paint.
Holy Cross and Loyola traded leads over the next minute-plus with
Milos Ilic giving the Greyhounds a 53-52 lead with a basket off a
Jordan Stiemke assist.
The Crusaders, however, scored the next seven points and led 59-53 on a Max Green basket off a turnover at 8:42.
Holy Cross's six-point lead would be its largest for the rest of the game with the next eight minutes fluctuating between one and five margins.
Stiemke got Loyola within a point, 64-63 when he made the back end of two free throws with 24 ticks on the clock, but Holy Cross made a transition basket and the its last four free throws to seal the victory.
Stiemke and
Milos Ilic both scored 15 points to lead the Greyhounds, while
Veljko Ilic and
Jacob Theodosiou added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Theodosiou had a career-high seven assists, and both he and Stiemke had four steals. Loyola forced 16 Holy Cross turnovers with 13 coming on steals.
Loyola will be back in action on Wednesday, January 29, with a 7 p.m. game at Bucknell University.
