Courtesy of LoyolaGreyhounds.com
HANOVER, N.H. – Loyola University Maryland’s Chuck Champion and Cam Gregory scored career-highs of 26 and 22 points, respectively, but Dartmouth College scored with 1.7 seconds left to get past the Greyhounds with a 64-63 non-conference decision at Leede Arena on Tuesday night.
Champion, who was playing his first game of the year after missing five with an injury, erupted for 26 points while making 12 of 15 shots from the field to lead a Greyhounds’ lineup hampered by injuries to three starters.
Gregory, meanwhile, logged his second-straight double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds, eclipsing his career-high of 21 points set last season at Lafayette College.
Gregory gave the Greyhounds a 63-52 lead on two free throws with 50.4 seconds left, and the Greyhounds forced a missed 3-pointer on Dartmouth’s ensuing possession. The Big Green fouled Champion with 19.3 on the clock, but the front-end of one-and-one rimmed out, and Dartmouth grabbed the rebound for one more opportunity.
Loyola defended the Big Green’s halfcourt offense, but Brendan Barry’s driving layup went in with 1.7 seconds remaining to push Dartmouth up a point. Gregory’s 60-foot shot at the buzzer hit the front of the rim, sealing the Big Green’s victory.
Barry scored 14 points to lead Dartmouth (2-2 overall), while Miles Wright added 13, and Chris Knight tallied 11 points in the second half after sitting out the first.
Loyola (1-5) led by seven at halftime, 33-26, after a Gregory layup at the first-half buzzer, but the Big Green scored the first seven of the second to even the game at 33-33.
KaVaughn Scott’s dunk 2:19 into the second, and a Luke Johnson layup at 16:49 pushed Loyola up by four, and Gregory made it 39-33 with a basket at 16:19. The Big Green cut its deficit to one three possessions later, another Scott basket at 14:32 extended Loyola’s advantage back to six, 44-38.
Dartmouth, however, converted on its next three possessions, and a Knight jumper made it 46-45 Big Green. The lead changed hands nine times thereafter, including on Barry’s game-winning layup.
Champion’s 26 points exceeded his previous career-high of 18 set in the 2016-2017 season finale when Loyola played at Coastal Carolina University in the College Basketball Invitational Quarterfinals. His 12 field-goals made are the most by a Loyola player since Dylon Cormier had the same amount in a November 20, 2013, win at UMBC.
Loyola controlled a 40-26 advantage on the boards Tuesday night, led by Gregory’s 11. Isaiah Hart added a career-best six, and three other players – Champion, James Fives and Brent Holcombe – each had four.
The Greyhounds are back in action on Saturday, December 2, when they play at Mount St. Mary’s in a 4 p.m. game that will air live on MASN. The contest is part of a Loyola-Mount St. Mary’s doubleheader with the schools’ women’s teams playing at 1 p.m.
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