Courtesy of LoyolaGreyhounds.com.
BALTIMORE – Robert Olson scored nine of his career-best 22 points during a 22-2 Loyola University Maryland run midway through the first half, and Julius Brooks added a career-high 12 points, as the Greyhounds defeated visiting Mount St. Mary’s University, 79-57, on Saturday night in Reitz Arena.
Olson made a career-high nine shots, on 14 attempts, and exceeded his previous best by a point with a lay-up and free throw with 2:23 remaining in the game.
Erik Etherly returned to action after a five-game hiatus with an injury and scored 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting in 34 minutes off the bench.
Loyola’s win moved its record to 9-3 overall, matching last year’s team for the best record through 12 games.
The Mountaineers (4-4 overall) cut a seven-point Loyola lead to four on a Sam Prescott three with 11:36 to play, but Olson had layups on consecutive possessions for the Greyhounds, sparking the 22-2 run.
Raven Barber momentarily slowed the run with a layup at 8:30, but the Greyhounds scored the next 13 points, capped by a Brooks turnaround hook with 4:25 on the clock, and Loyola was up 35-11.
Barber’s layup was the only Mount basket in nine attempts during the run. The Mountainneers also missed three free throws during the run and were just 5-of-17 from the charity stripe in the game. Loyola held The Mount to 24.1-percent from the field in the first half (7-of-29) and 33.8-percent (22-of-65) in the game.
“The last time we played in this building, we did not play well, and I think we took that personally,” Loyola Head Coach Jimmy Patsos said, referencing a 62-61 loss on December 5 to Niagara University.
“We had very good defensive intensity in the first half, and that made a big difference for us tonight.”
The Greyhounds went up 22 at the half, but Kristijan Krajina scored The Mount’s first eight points of the second half in the paint with his final bucket cutting the advantage to 42-26 with 17:35 remaining.
Mount St. Mary’s got within 15, 49-34, on a Prescott three in transition off a Loyola turnover, but Olson responded with a three on Loyola’s offensive end, and Brooks scored three on a layup and free throw at 11:15 to push the Greyhounds’ lead back to 20.
Julian Norfleet, however, culminated an 8-2 Mount run with a three at 10:05, and Loyola’s lead was 14, 57-43. That was as close as the Mountaineers would get, however, as the Greyhounds reeled off the next eight points with Dylon Cormier making it 65-43 at 7:42 with a layup.
The Greyhounds led by as many as 25 points, 70-45, on two Franz Rassman free throws at the 4:36 mark.
Cormier was the fourth Greyhounds’ player in double figured with 14 points, going 8-of-9 at the free-throw line.
Loyola enjoyed a 40-31 rebounding advantage, led by Anthony Winbush’s game-high 11.
The Greyhounds had a season-high 18 assists, led by Jones’ career-high five in just 13 minutes of action.
Krajina scored 14 to lead the Mountaineers, all in the second half after playing just two minutes in the first half with foul trouble. Prescott added 12, and Norfleet scored 11. Mount St. Mary’s took 34 3-point attempts in the game, making eight (23.5-percent).
The Greyhounds will have a 13-day layoff before their next game, a Friday, December 28, date with Bucknell University at 7:30 p.m. in Reitz Arena.
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