Loyola's Matt Rum had a sensational second half, as he finished with a game-high 26 points and nailed the game-winning jumper in the closing seconds, as Loyola avenged a buzzer beating loss, last month, to arch-rival Calvert Hall.
by Peter Dalmasy
See video highlights below
Loyola Blakefield, the #13 team in the Digital Top 20 Boys Basketball rankings, entered Friday night's contest at arch-rival Calvert Hall with a three-game winning streak, and seeking redemption for a 48-45 loss at the buzzer to the Cardinals last month at Loyola.
They got it.
The Dons battled back from a 16-point second half deficit to stun the Cardinals, 50-48, as Matt Rum drained the winning field goal with just 3.3 seconds remaining. The loss put a huge dent in Calvert Hall's hopes of reaching the MIAA post-season.
One of the nation's most prominent rivalries, regardless of sport, you can expect high drama terrific effort from both sides, whenever Loyola and Calvert Hall due battle, and last night was no different.
Calvert Hall, playing on its senior night, led for much of the first half behind the strong interior presence of sophomore forward Jonathan Graham, who would finish with 16 points. After two quarters, the Cardinals held a seven point lead, which blossomed to 16 points before Loyola head coach Jos Davalli called a time-out with around five minutes remaining in the third quarter. The stoppage proved valuable, as the Dons, came back onto the floor revived and went on to outcore the Cardinals, 29-11, thre rest of the way.
Loyola took a three point lead with around 1:30 remaining in the fourth quarter before junior Raphael Morgan tied the game, at 48, for the Cardinals on a three-pointer.
Following Morgan's shot, Loyola executed great passing in their motion offense, as the clock ticked down. Finally, they put the ball in Rum's hands and the junior pulled up just inside of the arc and drained the game-winning jumper. After a quick timeout called by Cardinals coach John Bauersfeld, the Cardinals fell short on a desperation shot from outside to give Loyola their fourth consecutive victory.
Rum poured in a game-high and season-high 26 points on 11-for-20 shooting to leave the Dons victorious as they escaped Calvert Hall with a much needed victory on the road. In addition, senior swingman James Davenport chipped in with 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting. The Dons' inspired second half run can also be attributed to their defense, which held the Cardinals to 29% shooting in the second half, and 35% for the game.
Calvert Hall was led by Graham's 16, followed by junior guard Shawn Holmes’ 11, and a solid effort from senior Nate Boone who was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and finished with nine.
With the win, the Dons got their first victory over Calvert Hall since the 2005-2006 season, when the Dons defeated the Cardinals twice in the regular season. Loyola (10-7 MIAA, 7-7 BCL, 17-7) will now meet up with #4 John Carroll (10-7 MIAA, 18-11), whom the Dons defeated just seven days ago at Loyola 62-55, in Bel Air on Sunday afternoon for their final regular-season game. The winner of that game will obtain the fourth seed and home-court advantage in the quarterfinals of the MIAA A Conference playoffs, on Tuesday. Regardless of Sunday's outcome, Loyola and John Carroll will meet again on Tuesday with the winner advancing to Wednesday's semifinals, at Towson University, against top-ranked Mount St. Joseph.
Wednesday's MIAA semifinal double-header will be televised on tape delay, next Saturday, on Comcast Network channel CN8. That broadcast will begin at 4:00 pm.
In addition to the A Conference seeding, the victory over Calvert Hall puts them at 7-7 and tied for fourth in the BCL with Cardinal Gibbons (8-9 MIAA, 7-7 BCL, 15-12).
The Cardinals (7-10 MIAA, 5-8 BCL, 15-16) will now look to Sunday to see if they can dethrone #1 Mount St. Joseph (16-1, 12-1, 25-2), on the road, in a game which was re-scheduled due to inclement weather this past Tuesday. An upset is must if Calvert Hall wants to catch Gibbons for the sixth and final A Conference playoff slot. Even a win will not guarantee the MIAA post-season, as the Cardials also need Gibbons to fall in its finale at St. John's Catholic Prep, also on Sunday.
Regardless of the outcome on Sunday, Calvert Hall stands put in the Baltimore Catholic League standings in sixth place, and will play Towson Catholic (12-5 MIAA, 9-4 BCL, 18-11) in the opening round of the BCL Tournament, which will be held at Loyola College's Reitz Arena on March 3rd.
Loyola 50, Calvert Hall 48
L 14 5 11 20 - 50
CH 15 11 12 10 - 48
Loyola: Rum 26, Davenport 12, Stanwick 8, Floyd 2, Dauses 2.
Calvert Hall: Graham 17, Wise 2, Holmes 10, Boone 9, Terry 2, Morgan 7, Healey 1.
Half: Calvert Hall, 26-19.