2008 Woodie Awards
Loyola KOs Broncs, in prime MAAC position
Brian Hungarter
Issue date: 2/26/08 Section: Sports
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Staff Writer
After two more wins last week the Loyola men's basketball team is peaking at the right time heading into the postseason. The Hounds (17-12, 11-5 MAAC) are on a three-game surge and winners of 10 of their last 12 to force a four-way tie atop the conference.
Last week, Loyola won possibly their most important game of the season to date by defeating Rider,73-68, Monday night in Reitz Arena. If they can take care of business against Canisius at home on Thursday night and Marist in the finale on the road, the Greyhounds could be looking at a top seed heading into the MAAC tournament.
Senior Michael Tuck led the Greyhounds on Monday with 20 points to go along with nine rebounds, but was closely followed by senior Gerald Brown's 16-point effort and 10 points each from sophomore Brett Harvey and junior Marquis Sullivan.
"This win tonight meant a lot for our school," head coach Jimmy Patsos said. "I am so proud of our program, our players, the fans, everyone was great tonight.
"But this is not the last step. It is not easy to get into third or fourth place from 1-27, but the hardest step is reaching first place, and we have a shot at that now in a week."
Directly out of the final media timeout, two Tuck free-throws knotted the score at 64, and Harvey hit 1 of 2 from the line to put the Greyhounds ahead 65-64 with 2:30 remaining. Rider's Matt Griffin responded with a three, but Brown got Mike Ringgold to foul out, and after two free throws the score stood at 67-67.
After Griffin missed his three-point attempt, freshman Brian Rudolph's notched his 10th assist by feeding Isreal, who put the Hounds ahead 69-67 with 1:11 remaining. Rudolph then went coast-to-coast as Loyola went up by four. Rider hit 1 of 2 from the line, and Tuck, who was fouled after a rebound, connected on two free throws to seal the win.
"Loyola had a lot more energy tonight in the second half," Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey said. "Their effort put energy back into the building, which I thought we had taken away with our play in the first half, but they fed off of the fans well. When their offense clicked, the crowd came to life and they played great. It's another hard fought loss (Rider's third in a row)."
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