Baltimore, Md. (December 9, 2023)—A strong first half propelled Mount St. Mary's to a 77-64 win at Loyola on Saturday afternoon at Reitz Arena in the 178
th all-time meeting between the two teams. The victory gives the Mount a 102-76 lead in the all-time series known as the Catholic Clash.
Dakota Leffew and
Dallas Hobbs each scored 20 points to lead the Mount offense in the game while
Jedy Cordilia chipped in 10. Leffew tallied 18 of his 20 points in the second half as the Mount was able to maintain a comfortable double-digit advantage in the second stanza. D'Angelo Stines led the Greyhounds with 12.
The Mount (3-6) shot 51.0 percent (26-of-51) from the field in the game while Loyola shot 45.8 percent (22-of-48). The Mountaineers was able to turn 22 Loyola turnovers into 24 points in the contest.
Hobbs buoyed the Mount's big first half, scoring 16 of his 20 points in the opening frame. His three-pointer with 2:43 remaining in the opening half capped a 15-to-4 run that put the Mount on top, 33-to-16. Hobbs had equaled Loyola's scoring output with 16 points in the game at that point. A Frantisek Barton dunk gave the Mount a 20-point advantage before Loyola's Deon Perry hit a pair of free throws to make it 38-20 at the break.
After Loyola (1-9) cut the Mount's advantage to 41-30, the Mount responded with a 10-1 run of its own to take a 20-point lead at 51-31. Leffew keyed the run with a pair of three-point baskets. Leffew converted a dunk in transition to stretch the lead to 55-33. The Mount maintained the lead with Cordilia's basket putting the Mount ahead, 60-38, with 7:38 remaining.
The Greyhounds fought back, using an 11-to-1 run to cut the Mount's lead to 61-49, but Cordilia scored off a nice feed from
De'Shayne Montgomery to make it a 14-point lead with 4:39 remaining. Leffew buried a clutch step-back three from the right corner to put the Mount on top, 66-52, and the Mount was able to secure the win from there.
This is the Mount's first win at Loyola since a 74-65 victory at Reitz Arena on Dec. 6, 2014. The Mount won last year's meeting, 51-34, in Emmitsburg, giving the Mountaineers back-to-back double-digit wins over the Greyhounds, the first time that has happened since 1994 and 1995.
UP NEXT: The Mountaineers heads to former Northeast Conference rival Saint Francis U for a 7:00 p.m. matchup on Friday, December 15.
