Hounds win fifth-straight in front of sell-out crowd

A sellout crowd of 2,100 came out to see the Greyhounds defeat the Rider Broncs, 63-46, in the Metro Atlantic Conference on Friday night.

"We couldn't lose that game with the student support we had," coach Jimmy Patsos said.

The Greyhounds got off to a hot start in front of ESPNU cameras and a national television audience, and never trailed in the contest. Loyola improved upon their Division-I best start and now sit at 17-5 after the win. Their conference record of 10-2 is also their best through 12 games since joining the MAAC in the 1989-1990 season.

Rider (9-15, 6-6) was averaging 86 points per game in its last three games, which shows how dominating the Hounds defense was, especially early in the game.

Junior Erik Etherly dominated the paint in the games opening sequences and had six points in his first 7 minutes of action. The 6-foot-7 forward from Alexandria, Va finished with a game-high 15 points and grabbed six rebounds. Etherly has been a force all season long for the Greyhounds. He is averaging 13 ppg, good enough for second on the squad, to go along with a team-leading 7.5 boards per game.

After Jonathan Thompson cut an early Greyhound lead, 6-5, Loyola held the Broncs scoreless for nearly 9 minutes and jumped out to a 24-5 lead with 8:44 to play in the first. The 18-0 Loyola run was fueled by two 3-pointers from junior Robert Olson and two buckets from sophomore guard Dylon Cormier.

Cormier didn't start but played 28 minutes after siting out last Sunday's game versus Canisius with an injured ankle. Dylon, the Greyhounds' leading scorer (14.4 ppg), hurt his ankle in practice last week and was limited against Niagara before sitting out Sunday's contest. The star sophomore showed no signs of the injury Friday night and was effective on both ends of the court. Cormier was 4-of-8 from the field and finished with 12 points and four steals.

Stewart Daniel stopped the bleeding for Rider with a layup with 8:01 remaining in the first but the Hounds responded with an 11-2 run and took a 35-12 lead into the break. Olson and Cormier each had 10 points in the half as the Greyhounds played one of their best halves of basketball this season. Rider had as many turnovers (12) as points in the first 20 minutes of action.  The 23-point lead was the largest halftime advantage for the Hounds so far this season.

As well as the Hounds played in the first half, they came out ice cold to start the second. Loyola was held scoreless until 15:10 of the second half when Etherly hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe.

"It's tough to be up that many points," Patsos said. "We don't have much experience with that."

Jeff Jones's free throws cut the Loyola lead to 13. Bobby Olson made the first field goal of the half for Loyola when he hit a jumper in the paint at 10:43. On the Hounds next offensive possession, Olson hit another turn-around jumper in the paint, followed by a Cormier steal. Dylon was fouled on his drive and hit both free throws to put the Hounds back up by 20.

Olson and Cormier have been some of the most consistent players for the Greyhounds this season. Cormier's highlight of the season came when he hit the game-winning 3-pointer against Manhattan back in early January.

"Big Shot" Bobby has been making plays when it has counted the most for the Greyhounds this season. Whenever the Hounds need to end a scoring slump or look for a big basket, the clutch guard has risen to the occasion. Olson was a key player in the Hounds comeback win at Fairfield last month and is shooting a team-best 43.1 percent from three. The 6-foot-4 Silver Spring, Md. native has been a leader on and off the court, something that does not go unnoticed by coach Patsos.

"Olson really picked it up in the second half when we were struggling," Patsos said. His hard work has been an inspiration to others this season Patsos also noted.

Despite his on-court success, Olson remains humble and exemplifies the meaning of a team player.

"Everybody picks their spots," Olson said. "We have so many guys who score, it really doesn't matter to us who scores."

However, Rider would again cut into Loyola's lead. A layup by Stewart Daniel made the score 51-35 with 7:42 to play.

The Hounds responded when redshirt junior Anthony Winbush grabbed a rebound off of a missed 3-pointer from Olson, laid the ball in while being fouled and made the ensuing free throw. The do-it-all forward finished with six points, four rebounds, and two steals in just 14 minutes of action. Etherly would score the games next six points, highlighted by a dunk off of a missed R.J. Williams jumper. Etherly grabbed the board and slammed the ball home as he was falling away from the basket.