The Seattle Seahawks weren’t the only team to pull out a remarkable come-from-behind overtime victory on Sunday afternoon.
Loyola men’s basketball found itself down 74-69 with just seconds left, but miraculously scored five points in the final second of regulation to force overtime, where the Greyhounds would go on to defeat Boston University at Reitz Arena, 91-86.
After rebounding a missed free throw by the Terriers’ John Papale with five seconds left, senior Denzel Brito drove down the court and drained a desperate three-point shot that cut Boston University’s lead to 74-72 with 0.2 seconds remaining.
Still needing a miracle, the Greyhounds (7-10, 3-3 Patriot League) fouled on the ensuing inbounds pass. The referees then checked the monitor and found that a Boston University player had committed a flagrant one foul for striking junior Franz Rassman in the head on the previous play. Rassman toed the line and sank both of his free throw attempts to tie the game at 74.
The Terriers (7-10, 3-3) still had a chance to win the game, though, because of the foul on the inbounds pass after Brito’s three-pointer. Eric Fanning missed both free throws, however, and the game inexplicably went to overtime.
Boston remained on top throughout the first three minutes of overtime. With the Greyhounds behind 81-78, layups by freshmen Cam Gregory and Andre Walker gave Loyola its first lead of the overtime period, 82-81, with 1:53 remaining.
With 1:10 remaining, Cheddi Mosely then hit a pair of free throws to put the Terriers back in front, 83-82. But Brito continued his clutch heroics by hitting another three to give the Hounds an 85-83 lead with just under a minute left.
With 28 seconds left, junior Eric Laster missed both free throw attempts to keep it a two-point game, but Walker came up with the game-saving steal with 19 ticks left on the clock. After he was fouled, Walker iced the game with two free throws to give Loyola an 87-83 lead.
After two more Walker free throws, Cedric Hankerson hit a three for the Terriers to make the score 89-86, before freshman Chancellor Barnard wrapped up the contest with a dunk as time expired.
The Greyhounds had six players score in double-figures. Gregory led the Hounds with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Walker scored 17 and added four steals. Laster scored 15 along with seven assists, Rassman scored 14 with six rebounds and three blocks and Brito scored 10 with seven boards. Junior Tyler Hubbard, the team’s leading scorer, finished with 11 points and hit three shots from beyond the arc.
Free throw shooting proved to be the difference in the game, as the Greyhounds made 24 of their 32 foul shots (75 percent), while the Terriers shot just 22-for-41 (53.7 percent) from the line.
Rassman (6-for-6) and Walker (9-for-9) were both perfect from the charity stripe.
Loyola set a season-high with 91 points in the game, and the Greyhounds are now 3-0 in overtime games this year. Their past two home contests have required 45 minutes.
With a 3-3 conference record, Loyola is in a four-way tie for fourth place with BU, Lafayette and Navy in the wide-open Patriot League. The Greyhounds host third-place Bucknell on Wednesday at 8 p.m.