On Feb. 18 in Reitz Arena, Loyola hosted Army West Point for their second contest of the season. The halftime special of this rematch featured the unique second annual Faculty & Staff basketball game, an event where Loyola employees face off against each other on the court.
Team Green in this event was led by Loyola’s one and only President Sawyer, and with him played Professor Sean Keehan, Campus Ministry Associate Director Laura McCormack, Dr. Cynthia Fraga-Cañadas, Dr. Jay Brown, and Dr. Milton Javier Bravo.
On Team White fought Dr. John Burger, Recreation and Wellness Director Michael Castaneda, Assistant Director of Student Leadership Katie Derreth, Associate Director for Clinical Services Jennifer Stevens, Dr. Ryan Sappington, and Dr. Kerry Tan.
After a battle too monetizable to be allowed a full game’s runtime, President Sawyer and Team Green took the victory with a final score of 13-4. Despite the uneven score, fans agree the event was nothing less than extraordinary.
The fight against Army on either end of the halftime battle was the fourth to last game in the Greyhounds regular season. After back to back wins, the Greyhounds were looking for another. But the pressure to win was felt by both teams, something clear as day when Army showed up and competed extremely hard.
The battle began neck-and-neck with the two teams trading goals, but soon into the first half Army pulled away with a large lead. Despite a hard fight and moments of brilliance from the Greyhounds, the Black Knights would keep an undisturbed lead for the rest of the match, ending with a final score of 77-87. The defeat was a tough late-season loss for the Greyhounds.
From the outset in the first half, Army was putting on an all around more consistent performance. Not only were they putting up more points, but they also held a more imposing defense. Falling below full force at any point would be trouble for Loyola against this opponent, and, unfortunately, this danger was realized sooner rather than later.
With the Black Knights needing less chances to capitalize on opportunities with goals, the Greyhounds at the very least needed to keep a strong defense to keep the gap small in time for a comeback. Unfortunately, the defense was not where it needed to be either. Army had an easier time than the Greyhounds driving in and moving the ball offensively.
Where Loyola did shine more on defense like defensive rebounding, Army would rival in consistency and pull ahead some. Guard Jacob Theodosiou ‘27, the Greyhound lead scorer of the game, commented on defense when reflecting on the team’s shortcomings.
“We just gotta play better defense. Grab more O-Boards [offensive rebounds], bring the physicality to the level we’re playing,” Theodosiou said.
By the end of the first half, Loyola was down 31-41. The game was still well within reach, but in need of a strong comeback. As far as statistics, Army was shooting a field goal accuracy of 47.2% to Loyola’s 38.7%, but Army was only leading the three-point percentage 30.8% (4-13) against Loyola’s 23.1% (3-13). The free throw comparison disparity was only 60% Army to 57.1% Loyola.
Looking at the numbers, the difference is being drawn inside the arc, which additionally suggests the problematic first half defensive gap would define the entirety of the game, if not dealt with.
In the earlier part of the second half, it appeared that this would be proven painfully correct as the score approached blowout numbers, with the highest point disparity being 37-53 just under the 16 minute mark. But after two back-to-back 2-0 free throw goals from forward Emmet Adair ‘29 and guard Braeden Speed ‘28, the Greyhounds returned to winnable distance, though at this point in the match the comeback had to be thorough and convincing to last.
While the Greyhounds did remain consistent, more was needed. The early point gap from the beginning of the match would haunt the rest of the game. After a cat and mouse game that would end with a handful of intentional fouls, the game would end in a disappointing loss.
The game was defined by that early pit the Greyhounds found themselves in that they just could not get out of, despite actually playing at a level similar to the Black Knights in the second half.
Isolated second half game stats show Loyola went 53.8% on field goals to Army’s 50%, tied in three-pointers at 33.3%, and fell a little short in free throws with 87.5% to Army’s 92.9%, though the Greyhounds overall scored more free throws. Even more to this point of the early gap haunting Loyola, both teams would score exactly 46 points in the second half, meaning the difference in the end was carried over from the first half.
Even with the game ending in a loss, the Greyhounds are keeping their heads up and their eyes focused on the battles to come. Theodosiou highlights carrying forward team trust and momentum in the last stretch of the normal season.
“We can keep playing together, keep having trust in one another, try and build momentum forward with whoever’s on the floor whether it’s twelve guys, ten guys. Just keep building that momentum,” Theodosiou said.
On the topic of the coming championships, Theodosiou briefly mentioned strategy for important upcoming games, particularly the game against the Colgate Raiders on Feb. 21.
“We’re gonna go watch some film tomorrow. Big one coming on Saturday,” Theodosiou said.
Head Coach Josh Loeffler also made mention of the game coming on Feb. 21 when describing the team mindset coming out of a loss.
“Every game right now you’re trying to get better to position yourself to make the best one. And every game right now helps you with your standings to hopefully get you that seating. We let one go tonight, and we gotta try and take a step on Saturday,” Loeffler said.
The battle between the Loyola Greyhounds and Colgate Raiders would be an incredibly difficult one for both sides, but it ended in a loss for the Greyhounds. Though a loss is a loss, the 98-101 score made this the team’s second-highest scoring game of the season. And on top of this, the Saturday match needed to be settled through overtime, another nod to Loyola’s impressive performance against the second-seed Patriot League team.
The next game from Loyola’s men’s basketball will be against number-one seed Navy on Feb. 25. Be sure to support our Greyhounds in the crucial points of their seasons!