UMBC

Baltimore, MD—The men’s basketball team lost its third straight game as the Retrievers fell at Loyola  (2-0), 71-64 at Reitz Arena.

UMBC was its own worst enemy as the Retrievers shot poorly from the free throw line for the third consecutive game. UMBC missed 10 of 17 attempts, including the front end of three one-and-one opportunities. The Retrievers are only 27 of 53 from the stripe in the last three games.

UMBC did battle back from double digit deficits in both halves to threaten the Greyhounds. Loyola built a 31-15 lead with 6:50 to play in the first half after two straight three-point goals by Maryland transfer Andre Collins. But UMBC outscored the hosts, 13-4 and trailed by only 35-28 at intermission.

The Retrievers put together a 10-2 surge early in the second half and came within 43-40 on a John Zito layup with 13:45 remaining. But UMBC committed ten first half fouls in the first nine minutes of the stanza and Loyola hit eight consecutive free throws to rebuilt the lead to 61-46 at the midpoint of the half.

UMBC had one more comeback in them, slicing the deficit to 66-60 with 1:51 to play. But after Mike Housman missed the second of two free throws, freshman guard Jay Greene stole the rebound from Loyola’s Josko Alujevic, but UMBC turned the ball right back to Loyola as they failed to inbound the ball under their own basket. UMBC did score the next field goal as Zito scored with 50 seconds left to cut the gap to 66-62, but  Loyola offensive rebounds after a missed field goal and missed free throw resulted in three Greyhound free throws to seal their victory.

Zito hit 10 of 14 field goal attempts and was UMBC’s lone double figure scorer with 20 points. Housman added eight points and a team high seven rebounds, and Greene and Hodges each added seven points. However, Retriever guards Greene, Hodges, and Chris Pugh were only 8 of 30 from the floor and 1 of 12 from behind the arc.

UMBC shot over 40 percent from the floor for the first time this season, hitting 16 of 31 shots in the second stanza to finish at 28 of 64 (43.8%). Loyola was led by Collins, who scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half. The Greyhounds made 19 of 24 free throw attempts and outrebounded UMBC, 39-35.

The Retrievers return to action on Thursday when they host Delaware at 7:00 p.m. It will be the 1,000^th game in school history.