Greyhounds look flat in rout, worst loss at home since 2004

Even the return of Andrew Kostecka could not help the Loyola Maryland men’s basketball team.

Kostecka, the shooting guard who leads the Greyhounds in scoring, ended a onegame absence, but Loyola looked listless and played poorly in a 85-53 demolition by visiting Boston University before an announced 1,109 at Reitz Arena on Monday night.

The Greyhounds absorbed their worst loss at home since Feb. 4, 2004, when Manhattan pummeled that squad, 91-54. It also marked the program’s worst home setback to a Patriot League opponent.

Kostecka, who had scored 21.4 points per

LOYOLA MARYLAND@ARMY

Video: game, sat out Saturday’s 65-62 loss to Lafayette after suffering a minor sprained ankle in the first half of a 92-70 setback at Colgate on Wednesday. The 6-foot-3, 189pound senior paced Loyola (9-9, 1-4 Patriot League) once again with 13 points and chipped in five rebounds and three assists, but even he could not halt the onslaught by the Terriers (10-8, 4-1).

“I just felt like in the beginning when things didn’t go our way, we separated rather than come together,” coach Tavaras

Hardy said. “We needed someone to say, ‘OK, we missed a couple of gimmes. So let’s get a stop and get some more opportunities.’ But I felt like everybody wanted to put it on their shoulders and try to get us back in the game, and that just became a spiral-down effect.”

The Greyhounds could take some solace in knowing that it was shorthanded once again. Freshman shooting guard Cam Spencer, a Davidsonville resident and Boys’ Latin graduate, missed his fourth consecutive start because of a hip injury, while senior guard Chuck Champion is out for the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a broken right foot suffered in a 78-71 loss at Lehigh on Jan. 5.

And freshman forward Santi Aldama continues to rehab his way back to the team after a knee operation in November.

The Terriers, who picked up their third straight victory, demonstrated why they are one of the top contenders for the Patriot League championship.

After Loyola freshman center Golden Dike converted a layup with 15:43 left in the first half, Boston University erupted for 13 consecutive points and a 17-2 advantage with 12:04 remaining.

A layup by Kostecka at the 11:57 mark ended a 3:46 scoring drought, and sophomore guard Jaylin Andrews (Boys’ Latin) added a layup 56 seconds later. But the Terriers scored 16 of the next 18 points.

At the break, Loyola had more turnovers (eight) than field goals made (seven).