Men's College Basketball
Loyola University Maryland 63, Rider University 46
BALTIMORE, MD-The good news is that Rider out-scored Loyola 34-24 in the second half. The bad news is that it was not enough. "We competed in the second half," said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey, "but in the first half we could not find any rhythm."
The Broncs lost a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game at Loyola Friday night.
Holding a 6-5 lead, Loyola (17-5, 10-2 MAAC) went on a 22-2 run, six points each by Dylon Cormier and Robert Olson, to take a 28-7 lead and the first place Greyhounds led 39-12 at the half. "You aren't coming back from being down 27 on the road, I don't care who you are," Dempsey said. "They came right at us in the paint and dominated it."
Olson finished with 14 points while Cormier finished with 12.
The 12 point-half is the lowest scoring half of the season for Rider (9-15, 6-6 MAAC). "Loyola played good defense and we had a tough shooting night on the road," Dempsey said. "Turnovers and missed shots did us in during the first 20 minutes."
Rider shot 30.6 percent from the field, and was just two for 18 from three-point range. The Broncs lead the MAAC in three-point shooting (38.6).
The loss snapped Rider's three-game winning streak while first place Loyola has now won five in a row.
Rider fought back with a 15-1 run to start the second half, six points by senior Brandon Penn (Philadelphia, Pa./Paul Robeson), to cut the lead to 13, 40-27 with 12:44 remaining, but that was as close as the Broncs could get.
"We had a much better approach in the second half," Dempsey said, "and we regrouped at half time but it was just too big a deficit."
Penn finished with eight points.
Holding a 42-29 lead, Loyola went on a 7-0 run, four points by Olson, to take a 42-29 lead with 9:36 left to play.
Sophomore Daniel Stewart (Philadelphia, PA/Neumann-Goretti) led the Broncs with 13 points and 10 rebounds, his third 'double-double' of the season and the seventh of his career.
Junior Jonathon Thompson (Orlando, Fla./Jones) added nine points, five rebounds and four assists for the Broncs.
Erik Etherly led Loyola with 15 points, while Shane Walker grabbed 12 rebounds to go along with his seven points.
Loyola is now 8-1 at home.
Rider and Loyola have now met 38 times since the series began in 1931-32, with Rider winning 22. Since Rider joined the MAAC the Broncs are 17-13 against the Greyhounds, including 1-0 in postseason.
In 2009-10 the Broncs lost by two points here in Baltimore and in 2008-09 Rider won by two points here in the Reitz Arena.
It was announced on Thursday that the re-match, when Loyola visits Rider on February 24, will be televised on ESPN2.
Rider hosts Niagara Sunday at 1pm. "In getting ready for Sunday the only thing we can take out of this game is that we didn't let it get really ugly," Dempsey said. "If we didn't come out and fight in the second half it would have been really embarrassing."
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