Courtesy of LoyolaGreyhounds.com
EASTON, Pa. – Cam Gregory recorded career-highs of 21 points and 14 rebounds Saturday afternoon, leading Loyola University Maryland to a wire-to-wire 70-62 Patriot League victory at Lafayette College.
Jarred Jones tallied 13 points in the first half, and 18 in the game, for Loyola (11-10 overall, 5-5 Patriot League). His second basket of the game, a mid-range jumper from the right elbow made him the 36th player in program history to record 1,000 points in a career.
Jones also joined Erik Etherly ’13 as the second player at the school to post 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 100 assists, 100 steals and 100 blocked shots in a career.
The Greyhounds raced out to a 26-6 lead in the game’s first 10 minutes, holding Lafayette (6-15, 2-8) without a field goal for a stretch of 6-minutes, 10 seconds in the process. Loyola would eventually extend its advantage to as many as 28, going up 37-9 with 6:30 to go in the first half on a Gregory layup, but the Leopards would make a hard charge to end the period.
Lafayette chipped away at the advantage, holding Loyola to just one rebound for the remainder of the half. An Auston Evans’ layup in transition with less than five seconds to play before the break brought the Leopards within 11, 41-30.
Kyle Stout drained a three for Lafayette 2:38 into the second, and Loyola’s lead was trimmed to eight, 43-35. The Leopards’ Hunter Janacek, however, was assessed a technical foul just over a minute later, and Andre Walker made one of two foul shots for Loyola. Gregory then had a fade-away jumper fall with the shot clock expiring and 14:33 on the clock to push the Greyhounds’ lead to 46-35.
Lafayette, however, scored 12 of the next 14 points, and Matt Klinewski’s basket in the paint at 10:01 cut the Leopards’ deficit to a single point, 48-47.
Jones responded with his first points of the second half, converting in the paint and drawing a foul 23 ticks of the clock later. He made it a 3-point play with the free throw to give the Greyhounds needed breathing room. Both teams came up empty on their next possessions, but Gregory grabbed an offensive board on Loyola’s next trip and scored.
He tallied another basket underneath coming out of a media timeout, and then Walker drained a three after a Jones steal, putting Loyola up 58-47 with 10 unanswered points.
Gregory’s 21 points eclipsed his previous high of 18 that came as a freshman in 2015 against Boston University. His 14 rebounds topped the 13 he posted in the 2015-2016 regular-season finale at American University.
After Walker’s three, Nick Lindner responded in kind for Lafayette, but this time it was Chancellor Barnard’s turn to grab an offensive board and score for Loyola. Barnard later made one of two free throw with 4:16 to go in regulation, and Loyola’s lead was 13, 65-52, but the Leopards had another run in them.
Lindner matched Gregory for game-high honors with 21 points, and he scored five on Lafayette’s next two possessions. First, he made a three at 3:53, and then scored with a pull-up jumper at 3:08. After two Kyle Stout free throws at 2:30, Janacek made the second of two from the charity stripe at 1:15, and Loyola’s lead was down to 65-60.
Matt Staubi, however, converted two free throws for Loyola with 61 seconds on the clock, and after two missed Lafayette shots, Chuck Champion knocked down the first of two at the line, putting the lead to eight, 68-60.
Loyola denied Janacek a clean look at a three, and Gregory corralled the rebound for Loyola. Walker was fouled and made both shots at the line with 24.5 seconds remaining to put the Greyhounds up 70.
Walker had six points and a season-high seven rebounds for Loyola. Barnard tallied seven points and four boards, while Staubi came off the bench with five points, three assists, a steal and two rebounds.
Klinewski was the only other Lafayette player in double-figures, finishing with 10. Paulius Zalys led Lafayette with nine rebounds, and Lindner had seven assists.
Loyola controlled a 38-29 advantage on the glass, and they held Lafayette to 39.6 percent shooting.
The Greyhounds continue Patriot League play with the first of two-straight home games. Loyola will host Lehigh University at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 1, in Reitz Arena.
Leave a Reply