The following represents the opinion of the student reporter and does not represent the views of Loyola University Maryland, the Greyhound, or Loyola University’s Department of Communication.
The Loyola Greyhounds hosted the Columbia Lions in Reitz Arena on Monday night to start off the new season. This season comes with a new level of hope and anticipation following the changes they underwent during the off-season. Aside from the hiring of Head Coach Josh Loeffler, the Greyhounds have added a variety of new players to the roster. This includes both the incoming freshmen for the Class of 2028 and other new players that the team is recruiting. With this information in mind, what could be a better test than facing such a strong opponent as the Columbia Lions?
The Lions finished off the 2023-24 season with a .500 win percentage, earning a record of 13-14. They had impressive wins against Temple and Lafayette. This team gave Loyola a good challenge for their season opener, and let them get an evaluation of where they are before they head into the season.
Early in the first half, one viewer, Miles Hall ’27, was already commenting on the end of the match, noticing the slow start offensively from both teams.
“I feel like it is going to be a low-scoring game,” Hall said.
Others like Nathan Richards ‘27 had a more positive outlook.
“We look much better defensively,” Richards said.
As the game went on, the Greyhounds offensive attack started to pick up rapidly. Multiple players across the board started to contribute which led to Loyola taking control of the game. The Greyhounds led 41-35 at halftime, taking advantage of the paint and scoring efficiently in that area.
After halftime, the student section was filled with high energy, and some viewers expressed their satisfaction with how the team looked in the first half.
“They look good on offense and defense so far,” Amanda Laryea ‘27 said.
Loyola took this momentum right into the second half as they continued to pull away with a sizable lead. This led Columbia to make the large defensive adjustment of running a full court press, which changed the trajectory of the game in the middle of the second half.
Seeing that Loyola was doing best when they were taking their time on offense and setting up easy baskets in the paint, Columbia forced them to adapt by getting aggressive on defense. They kept consistent with this defensive game plan throughout the later portion of the second half and it paid off for them.
The Greyhounds had a hard time adjusting to this and Columbia was able to close the gap in the final minutes of the game. The game was close as time was winding down, and Loyola then missed a shot while being down two points with 30 seconds left. This led into a fast-break for Columbia where a huge collision took place, leaving a Lion down for a while. The clash was reviewed and labeled as a Flagrant 2 foul, awarding the Lions two free throws extending the lead to four.
Transfer student Jacob Theodosiou ‘27 came down and scored a quick layup to cut the lead back down to two. With almost no time on the clock, Loyola was forced to foul the Lions’ guard Kenny Noland ’26 on the inbound. Noland missed the second free throw, and with eight seconds left, Jordan Stiemke ‘27 attempted a deep 3 pointer to tie the game. Although the attempt was missed, the ball bounced off of a Columbia Lion and the Greyhounds had one more chance to force the game into overtime. The ball was inbounded back to Stiemke for another chance and fell just short of the basket. Columbia won 81-78.
Although they lost, the Greyhounds have a lot to look forward to with great all-around performances. A total of five players scored double-digits, and Milos Ilic ’25 led with 18 points. Post-game thoughts from the students at the student section conveyed excitement for the rest of the season.
