Free throw with one second remaining sinks Loyola, 67-66
UMBC, Navy men fall; Coppin, Loyola women win
Delante Jones scored 18 points, Andrija Matic made the game-winning free throw with one second left, and host American beat Loyola Maryland, 67-66, in the regular-season finale for both teams Saturday. Each school now heads into the Patriot League tournament, which will begin Tuesday.
Jesse Reed hit two free throws, which gave the Eagles (11-18, 9-9) a 66-61 lead with 42 seconds to go. But Andre Walker hit a 3-pointer for Loyola (9-20, 8-10) on its next possession and added a pair at the line 20 seconds later to tie it at 66 with 13 seconds left.
Jones then missed a jumper, but Matic corralled the rebound and was fouled. He hit one of his two free throws to seal the win.
Reed had 14 points and seven rebounds for American.
Walker led the Greyhounds with 25 points. Franz Rassman added 13.
Jairus Lyles scored 27 points — including a jumper that pulled UMBC to within 67-64 with just over a minute remaining — and set the school's sophomore-season scoring record with 460 points. The Retrievers (7-24, 3-13), as the eighth seed, travel to top-seeded Stony Brook on Wednesday for the conference tournament.
Leading by 10 midway through the second half, Bucknell had to hold off a Navy rally that twice cut the margin to two, with the Midshipmen (18-13, 9-9) getting a 3-pointer from Zach Fong to trail 73-71 with 1:22 left and then 75-73 a half minute later on Will Kelly's jumper.
Fong finished with 17 points to lead five Mids in double figures.
UMES ended a five-game losing streak.
Jenifer also grabbed 13 rebounds in the tight, low-scoring game. Yunus Hopkinson added 12 points and Andy Fall had 10 points and nine rebounds for St. Francis.
Freshman Elijah Long scored 16 — coming within four of his career best — to lead the Mountaineers (13-18, 10-8).
Coppin State opened with a 22-8 run in the first quarter and never looked back. Braennan Farrar led Morgan State with 15 points.
The win marks the fifth straight for UMES.
Loyola's defense limited American to eight points in the first quarter and nine in the second quarter.
The playoff berth makes the fifth straight and seventh overall under coach Bryan Whitten.
The Mount hosts top-seeded Sacred Heart in the regular-season finale Monday at 7 p.m.