Continuing a current three game losing streak, Loyola men’s basketball fell short to Bucknell 67-58 Wednesday night, Jan. 20 at Reitz. Two days prior, Loyola lost at Boston University by only three points.
Judging solely by records, it would be easy to predict that Bucknell, who are currently above .500, would come out with the win against Loyola, who stands at four wins and fourteen losses. Loyola ranks seventh in the Patriot League, far below the Bison who stand in first place.
Despite Bucknell’s strong record, the Hounds went neck-to-neck with them; leading the Bison for over 11 minutes in the first half accompanied by an edge on Bucknell with strong defense. Forward Franz Rassman ended the half with a buzzer beater to bring the Hounds just a point above the Bison at 28-27.
Unfortunately for Loyola, the second half was not as promising as the first. The score remained extremely close until the Hounds let it slide with nine minutes left in regulation.
Bucknell guard Ryan Frazier and forward Zach Thomas helped the Bison gain a steep lead over Loyola for the first time in the entire game. With three minutes left in regulation, Bucknell sophomore Stephen Brown banked a two-pointer, increasing the score to 62-51 to give the Bison the overall largest lead in the match.
With less than half a minute left in the game, Loyola guard Eric Laster nailed both of his free throws to slightly tighten the gap, but Bucknell’s Brown was able to bring the score back up again, ending the game at Bucknell 67, Loyola 58.
Referees were not to blame for the Hounds’ loss, but there definitely were discrepancies on both sidelines regarding controversial calls. One shot that went under video review resulted in the officials revoking a point from Loyola.
Overall, Loyola’s momentum shut down halfway through the second half, their main issue being that they couldn’t catch up once they fell a few points behind Bucknell. Despite copious amounts of free throws, Loyola could not complete them while Bucknell only continued to increase the score.. If Loyola had come into the second half playing as clean and smart as they did in the first, they could have ended regulation with a much closer score and even could have pushed the game to overtime.
The Hounds travel north to Massachusetts to faceoff against Holy Cross on January 27. Loyola will return home to host Lafayette at Reitz Arena on Saturday, January 30.
