MAAC Tournament
Pencil into your brackets the Loyola Greyhounds.
The Maryland college last went to the NCAA Tournament in 1994, and may not cause many people to pick them to win its first game, but the Greyhounds hunkered down on defense to beat the Fairfield stags 48-44 in the men's championship game of the MAAC Tournament last night.
I was there in the company of one of my sports journalism students, courtesy of the conference. At the half, it looked like Fairfield would pull away. The Stags were leading 30-26, lead by brawny Rakim Sanders and 7-footer Ryan Olander. And the Fairfield crowd, bussed in from nearby Connecticut, were boisterous in their "Fear the Deer" shirts, dancing and singing along to the college's pep band.
But Loyola came out of the half tough, blocking shots, grabbing loose balls, and harassing Fairfield.The Stags went almost 8 minutes into the second half before making their first basket and by then Loyola had pulled out to a 37-31 lead.
While the Stags leaned on their big men for baskets, Loyola spread it around, getting strong performances out of Erik Etherly, Robert Olson and R.J. Williams. And they were pushed and prodded by their animated coach, Jimmy Patsos.
"I don't know how far they'll go in the tournament," I told Pat, my student, after the game. "But I'd root for them. They played with heart." The Loyola faithful were still celebrating when we made our way out into the cold night to drive back to campus.
Edit, 4:55 p.m.: I might have mentioned that the top-ranked team in the MAAC, Iona, was knocked out before the championship game, by Fairfield.
The Maryland college last went to the NCAA Tournament in 1994, and may not cause many people to pick them to win its first game, but the Greyhounds hunkered down on defense to beat the Fairfield stags 48-44 in the men's championship game of the MAAC Tournament last night.
I was there in the company of one of my sports journalism students, courtesy of the conference. At the half, it looked like Fairfield would pull away. The Stags were leading 30-26, lead by brawny Rakim Sanders and 7-footer Ryan Olander. And the Fairfield crowd, bussed in from nearby Connecticut, were boisterous in their "Fear the Deer" shirts, dancing and singing along to the college's pep band.
But Loyola came out of the half tough, blocking shots, grabbing loose balls, and harassing Fairfield.The Stags went almost 8 minutes into the second half before making their first basket and by then Loyola had pulled out to a 37-31 lead.
While the Stags leaned on their big men for baskets, Loyola spread it around, getting strong performances out of Erik Etherly, Robert Olson and R.J. Williams. And they were pushed and prodded by their animated coach, Jimmy Patsos.
"I don't know how far they'll go in the tournament," I told Pat, my student, after the game. "But I'd root for them. They played with heart." The Loyola faithful were still celebrating when we made our way out into the cold night to drive back to campus.
Edit, 4:55 p.m.: I might have mentioned that the top-ranked team in the MAAC, Iona, was knocked out before the championship game, by Fairfield.