EASTON, Pa. – Loyola University Maryland committed just six turnovers, had four players score in double-figures and held Lafayette College to its third-lowest 3-point total of the season on Wednesday night, and the Greyhounds earned a 71-58 road victory over the Leopards at the Kirby Sports Center.
Milos Ilic posted his seventh double-double of the season with 17 points and 13 rebounds, while
Tyson Commander matched his season-high with 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting.
Jordan Stiemke and
Jacob Theodosiou each scored 10 points, and
Braeden Speed and
Veljko Ilic had eight and seven points, respectively.
Lafayette (9-15 overall, 4-7 Patriot League) led by as many as five in the first 10 minutes of the game, but Loyola closed to 20-19 on a
Milos Ilic three from the top of the perimeter at 7:57.
On the Greyhounds' next possession, Commander grabbed an offensive rebound, and off a baseline out of bounds play, Theodosiou threw an alley-oop pass to Stiemke for a thunderous dunk to put Loyola (10-12, 5-6) in front with a lead it would never surrender.
Loyola led by six at halftime, 34-28, but the Leopards trimmed their deficit to four on three occasions in the second half's first 2:10. Each time, Loyola had an answer to stretch its lead, but Lafayette would get back within four, 50-46, on a Caleb Williams three with 6:28 on the clock.
Milos Ilic scored in the paint off a Commander feed 17 ticks of the clock later, Speed knocked down a three with 5:32 to go, and Stiemke sank a three against a Lafayette zone with 4:14 remaining.
After the media timeout. Lafayette came out in a press, but Commander took the ball in space on the left sideline. He threw it ahead to Stiemke who sprinted and took off more than eight feet from the basket for a one-handed dunk that would cap a 10-0 run to put the game away. Lafayette got within nine just once from that point forward.
Loyola had a 16 assists in the game with Theodosiou dishing out five and
Milos Ilic being credited with four. Theodosiou also had three steals in the game.
The Greyhounds will continue their two-game road swing with a Saturday, February 8, game at Colgate University in a 2 o'clock tipoff.
