COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland will look to even its conference record when it returns home to face Boston College Tuesday at 9 p.m. The Terps are 2-3 in the league after falling at North Carolina, 62-52, on Saturday. At home, Maryland has a 12-1 record, including a 51-50 win over then-No. 14 NC State last Wednesday. The Terps trail the all-time series with Boston College, 7-8, but won the lone meeting last year, 81-65 in College Park.

Storyline

• At North Carolina, the Terps were unable to a slow start that led to a 22-point halftime deficit in falling 62-52. Dez Wells scored a team-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including 13 in the second half. Maryland outscored the Tar Heels 32-20 and held them to 23.5 percent shooting in the second stanza, but was unable to cut the lead to single digits.

• The Terps have held all five ACC opponents under 38 percent shooting and the last four opponents to 65 points or fewer. Maryland limited NC State, which leads the league in scoring offense (78.9), to 50 points, and North Carolina, which ranks third (78.6), to 62 points. Opponents are shooting just 35.1 percent against Maryland this season, a mark which ranks third nationally behind just Texas (34.5) and Kansas (34.8).

• Wells and Alex Len, both sophomores, continue to be Maryland’s top scoring threats; Len is averaging a team-high 13.3 points per game and Wells is averaging 12.2. Wells leads the team with three 20-point games this year (at Northwestern, vs. George Mason, at North Carolina), while Len has reached double figures in 15 of 18 games. Most of Maryland’s scoring has come from underclassmen this season – 50 of Maryland’s 52 points at UNC came from freshmen or sophomores, and of the 72.2 points per game the Terps are averaging, 58.3 come from underclassmen (80 percent).

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Maryland-Boston College Series History

• Maryland trails the all-time series 7-8, which dates back to 1958. Boston College owns the upper hand since joining the ACC, having won 7 of 11 meetings since 2005.

• The Terps have a 4-3 advantage in the series in College Park, including an 81-65 victory on Feb. 16, 2012, which was the lone meeting last season.

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Quick Hitters

• Maryland has shot below 40 percent in each of the last four games, but on the year ranks third in the ACC with a 47.0 field goal percentage. Prior to the current streak of four games, Maryland had shot better than 40 percent in 12 of its previous 13 games.

• The 13-game winning streak Maryland went on earlier this season is tied for the second longest in school history, trailing just the 14-game streak the Terps went on in 1931-32. Maryland also went on a 13-game win streak in 2001-02, the year they went on to win the national title.

• It was also the 11th time in school history Maryland has put together a 10-game winning streak. In the past 30 years, Maryland has gone on a 10-game winning streak on six occasions, and in each of the previous instances it has gone on to play in the NCAA Tournament.

• Logan Aronhalt is averaging one 3-point field goal made for every 7.2 minutes on the floor. By comparison, the ACC leader in 3PT FGs made, Scott Wood of NC State, makes one every 12.3 minutes on the floor.

• Charles Mitchell earned ACC Rookie of the Week honors on Dec. 31 for his play against Delaware State on Dec. 29. Mitchell came off the bench to score 19 points and grab 14 rebounds, both career highs. Mitchell is the second Terp to earn weekly ACC honors; Alex Len was Player of the Week on Nov. 12.

• Seven of the 10 players in Maryland’s regular rotation are underclassmen and 80 percent of Maryland’s scoring (58.3 of 72.2 points per game) is coming from underclassmen. Additionally, Maryland’s top four scorers are underclassmen.

• When Seth Allen, Jake Layman and Shaquille Cleare drew starts against UMES, it marked the first time Maryland started three true freshmen since Dec. 28, 1993, when Keith Booth, Matt Kovarik and Joe Smith did vs. Hofstra.

• Maryland has assisted on 61.1 percent (290 of 475) field goals this season. The Terps have recorded double-digit assists in 16 of 18 games this season (exceptions are at Miami & at North Carolina). In Maryland’s 14 wins, it has averaged 17.9 assists per game, while in its four losses it has averaged just 9.8.

• At least eight players have scored in 15 of Maryland’s 18 games this year. The exceptions are vs. George Mason, at Miami and at North Carolina, when just seven players scored.

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Rare Performance

• When freshmen Seth Allen and Jake Layman both reached the 20-point plateau against Virginia Tech, it marked a rare performance. Prior to Allen and Layman’s performances, a freshman had scored 20 or more points in a game just 10 times since 1994-95 – with none of those occurring in the same game. In fact, the last time two different freshmen scored 20 or more points in a game in the same season was 1992-93 when Exree Hipp and Johnny Rhodes did it.

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Field-goal Percentage Defense

• Maryland leads the ACC and ranks third nationally in field goal percentage defense at .351. The Terps have held 12 of the last 14 opponents under 40 percent shooting, with Stony Brook and IUPUI being the exceptions. Maryland has held each of its five ACC opponents under 38 percent shooting (VT – .373; FSU – .367; Miami – .349; NC State – .311; North Carolina – .354).

• Since 2000, five Terrapin teams have held the opponent under 40 percent shooting. Of those five, four went on to at least the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

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Super Subs

• Maryland’s bench has been an asset all season, as the Terps’ non-starters have outscored the opponents non-starters in 15 of 18 games (exceptions are Kentucky, George Mason & North Carolina).

• On the year, Maryland’s bench has a 465-196 (25.8 to 10.9 per game) advantage over the opponent.

• All 10 players in Maryland’s regular rotation are averaging double-figure minutes, and no player is averaging more than 26 minutes per game (Alex Len and Dez Wells are first at 25.9).

• Logan Aronhalt has also been a consistent contributor as a long-range specialist. He is eight 3-point field goals made shy of qualifying for the ACC lead, but his .483 mark from beyond the arc would lead the league. He has made at least one 3-pointer in 14 of 18 games this season.

TOWSON HOSTS LOCAL RIVAL COPPIN STATE ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT
The Tigers Have Won Four of the Past Five Meetings With the Eagles

TOWSON, Md. - The Towson men’s basketball team will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak on Wednesday as the Tigers host local rival Coppin State. The game will be part of a doubleheader with the Tigers women’s basketball team and is scheduled to tip at 7:30 p.m.

Mariner Finance is Wednesday’s game sponsor and the first 1,000 fans in the arena will receive lanyards.

The Tigers (4-7), who will be playing just their second home game of the season, are coming off a 65-48 setback to North Dakota State on Saturday. Junior Mike Burwell posted his sixth double-digit scoring game of the season with a team-high 14 points. The guard hit four of his nine three-point field goal attempts and leads Towson with 18 triples on the year.

Graduate student Bilal Dixon registered six points and grabbed a season-high tying 11 rebounds against the Bison. The Tigers committed a season-low six turnovers in the loss.

Coppin State has lost five of its last six games and enters tonight with a 2-9 overall record. The Eagles are led by Michael Murray, who is averaging a double-double with 13.4 points and 10.8 rebounds this season. Coppin State has faced some tough competition this season, losing to USC, Texas, Saint Joseph’s and No. 2 Indiana. The Eagles last win came at UMBC (80-61) on December 12.

Towson leads the series history against Coppin State, 6-4. Although the Eagles won last year’s meeting, the Tigers have won four of the last five battles. Coppin State has not won at Towson since Dec. 12, 1992.

NORFOLK, Va. – Coppin State’s Michael Murray has been selected as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Player of the Week the league announced on Monday.

Murray averaged 15.0 points and 11.5 rebounds in games against UMBC and Wagner. The junior scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the Eagles victory at UMBC and added 11 points and 10 rebounds against Wagner.

He shot 63.2 percent from the floor, including 60.0 percent from the three-point line, in the two games. He also added three assists, three steals and a blocked shot.

Murray leads the Eagles averaging 13.4 points and 10.8 rebounds per game and has seven double-doubles for the year.

Rashid Gaston of Norfolk State was named the MEAC Rookie of the Week and Austin Witter of North Carolina A&T took home the Defensive Player of the Week honors.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Coppin State University is one of six institutions to receive a National Collegiate Athletic Association pilot program grant designed to assist limited-resource schools in developing and enhancing systems to increase student-athlete academic performance.

 

Coppin State will receive $300,000 in grant money each year for the next three years beginning in January 2013 and is one of only four institutions to receive the maximum grant amount.

 

“I am firmly committed to the importance of high academic performance by today’s intercollegiate student-athletes, especially in light of the challenges confronted by those who compete on the Division I level,” said University System of Maryland Chancellor William Kirwan. “This grant from the NCAA will help identify ways to support even better the academic performance of student-athletes at Coppin State, where the tradition of success in intercollegiate athletics is well-established.”

 

In August of this past year the NCAA Executive Committee approved $4.8 million in funding over the next three years for the pilot program. The Limited-Resource Institutions Grant Program Pilot will be administered by the NCAA national office staff and includes reporting requirements to hold institutions accountable for properly using the funds and to better measure the initiative’s success.

 

“News of the NCAA grant speaks to Coppin State University’s commitment to our student-athletes beyond the court,” said Coppin State President Reginald Avery. “This grant will enable Coppin State to support our student-athletes with enhanced technology, increased student and faculty engagement and additional staff.”

 

Coppin State completed a rigorous application process which detailed methods in which the University could enhance the academic performance of its student-athletes both in the short, and long, term. The NCAA also required a commitment from institutional personnel to ensure engagement and accountability from the University.

 

“This grant is in recognition of the wonderful work that Coppin State’s athletic department is already doing with its student athletes and that these support programs need additional resources to ensure each of our student athletes reaches their full academic potential,” said Coppin State Vice President of Administration and Finance Richard Siemer. “Coppin State is committed to providing matching funds during the period of the grant and sustaining funds thereafter.”

 

Division I institutions in the non-Football Bowl Subdivision and in the bottom 10 percent of resources as determined by per capita institutional expenditures, athletics department funding and Pell Grant aid were eligible to apply for the program.

 

Institutions were able to request a maximum of $300,000 per year for three years.  As part of the request, they are required to match grant dollars each year of the program with either direct funds or in-kind contributions. In the first year the institution must commit a 25 percent match, 50 percent in year two and 75 percent in year three.

 

Grant recipients were selected by a committee made up of representatives from the NCAA membership and staff. The group considered several criteria including presidential oversight, involvement of key staff, goals identified by the institution, the institution’s ability to match grant funds, the demonstrated sustainability of the initiative, the institution’s history in APP, and institution’s infractions history.

 

“This is an incredible opportunity for Coppin State University,” said Coppin State Director of Athletics Derrick Ramsey. “It’s just a tremendous shot in the arm for the athletic department. Aside from the revenue generated through playing guarantee games this is the largest infusion of financial support we have ever received. We have to be smart with it, we have to produce with it and we have to show results from it.”

 

During the application process Coppin State detailed eight initiatives which, if supported by the grant, would enhance the academic performance of its student-athletes. The initiatives included funding of summer school and winter session, hiring additional staff in the academic services area, the creation of a faculty enrichment program and peer mentoring program, purchasing technology that would create a mobile athletic computer lab for student-athletes while traveling, designating resources to support academic readiness, allocating funds to develop a broad based Academic Progress Rate plan, the development a fifth-year degree completion program to increase real-time graduates and the creation of a campus-wide Academic Progress Rate team.

 

“The most important aspect to me is the $90 thousand we have earmarked in each of the three years for the summer school and winter session,” added Ramsey. “In the past, we have been able to fund summer school and winter session through the Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund, but that money has diminished in recent years forcing me to be very selective in who we could enroll in summer school and winter session classes. With this grant we are now able to include all of our student-athletes in these programs.

 

“Combining the grant funds with the Summer Academic Success Academy program basically allows us to fund our student-athletes for all four years. In the SASA program, the student-athletes can earn 10 credits as freshmen and then we can place our sophomores, juniors and seniors in summer school and winter session to ensure graduation.”

 

Ramsey views the grant as an opportunity to elevate Coppin State to new heights in the academic arena.

 

“Our goal is to graduate our student-athletes in three and a half years and enroll them in graduate school for their final semester,” he said. “We are going to work very hard. We are going to be more efficient and more thoughtful in our approach to making the most of this grant. This gives us more support, but we still need to be very strategic in terms of how we utilize the funds.”

 

California State-Northridge, Jackson State, Tennessee State, Morehead State and Norfolk State were the other institutions that will receive the grant in addition to Coppin State.

For the sixth consecutive season, the UMBC men’s basketball team will face American University. The Eagles have won three of the previous five meetings, including the last two. Tip-off time is set for 7:00 p.m. All home basketball games are streamed with full play-by-play audio in HD on www.umbcretrievers.tv.

RETRIEVER UPDATE: UMBC (2-6) cut a 19-point first half deficit to as few as six points in the second half, but host George Mason hung on for a 74-63 victory at the Patriot Center on Dec. 4. Brett Roseboro led a balanced attack with 14 points. Chase Plummer scored all 13 of his points in the second half and Ryan Cook also tallied all 12 of his points in the final 20 minutes. Cook leads the squad with 16.6 ppg and 7.3 rpg, while Roseboro has scored 46 points in his last three outings.

EAGLE UPDATE: American (3-5) took on cross-town rival Howard at Burr Gymnasium on Dec. 4, but lost a close decision, 55-50. SR F Stephen Lumpkins just neared a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds. AU has dropped three of its last four and are 1-4 on the road to date Lumpkins leads the squad in scoring (16.1 ppg) and rebounding (7.3) and is shooting 55.3% from the floor. SO G John Schoof has hit 15-of-26 shots from behind the arc.

WHO’S UP NEXT: UMBC travels to Norfolk State for a contest with the 2011-12 NCAA Championship second round participants on Sun., Dec. 9 at 4:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast on   Q1370/www.q1370.com.

Opponent	Niagara Purple Eagles
Date	Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Time	7:30 p.m.
Location	Baltimore, Md. | Reitz Arena

Game Data

Loyola University Maryland commences Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action on Wednesday, December 5, 2012, when it hosts Niagara University in Reitz Arena for its first of 18 league games.

The Greyhounds and Purple Eagles will tip-off at 7:30 p.m.

 

Series History

Niagara holds a 34-17 advantage in the previous 51 meetings between the teams. Loyola has won two in a row, the regular-season game in Western New York last year and a meeting in the MAAC Quarterfinals in Springfield, Mass.

However, prior to those two Greyhound wins, Niagara had won nine of the last 10 games in the series, dating back to the January 12, 2007, when Loyola last won a home game in the series. That was a thrilling, 96-95, overtime victory in Reitz Arena.

In last year’s MAAC Quarterfinals, Dylon Cormier scored 15 of his game-high 23 points after halftime, and the Greyhounds shot a season-best 63-percent from the field to top the Purple Eagles, 86-73. After the teams were tied, 37-37, at the break, Loyola went up by seven less than four minutes in to the second half, only to see Niagara rally to pull within two with 13:39 to play. The Greyhounds, however, gained separation with a 13-3 run capped by a Robert Olson three with 8:52 on the clock.

 

Last Time Out

Florida Gulf Coast never trailed, and the Eagles snapped Loyola’s six-game winning streak with a 65-50 win in Fort Myers on Saturday night.

Jordan Latham scored a career-high 17 points, eclipsing his previous best of nine in less than 11 minutes of play, going 7-of-10 from the field. The rest of the team, however, shot just 26-percent (13-of-50) during the game.

In addition to Latham’s game-best 17, Dylon Cormier scored 12 points and led all players with nine rebounds, while Robert Olson added 10.

The Greyhounds had a 41-37 rebounding advantage in the game, but they committed a season-high 17 turnovers.

 

Latham Breaks Out

Jordan Latham took little time on Saturday night to set a career-high in scoring, tallying his 10th point of the game with 9:30 to play in the first half against Florida Gulf Coast. He finished with a game-high 17 points to easily outdistance his previous high of nine set just a week prior at Rhode Island.

Latham made 7-of-10 shots from the field and 3-of-4 from the line while making his first start since November 11 at the University of Washington.

His strong play of late started when he logged a career-high 27 minutes off the bench before fouling out midway through overtime at Rhode Island on November 23.

Latham scored a then-career-best nine points and also had five rebounds, an assist and a block, and he was at his best late in the tight game.

He scored the first three Loyola points of overtime, on a layup and a free throw, after the Rams had jumped out to a 53-50 lead in the extra frame.

Last Wednesday at Coppin State, Latham scored just four points, but he matched his career-high with 27 minutes and had a particularly strong defensive effort. He grabbed six boards and swatted three shots against the Eagles.

 

Cormier’s Career-High

Dylon Cormier had a career-high scoring night at Coppin State last Wednesday, tallying 27 points on 7-of-14 shooting. He made 11-of-12 from the line, 5-of-6 in the final five minutes of the game.

Cormier eclipsed his previous career-best of 26 set last season in a win at George Washington.

The junior guard also was one off his career-high in rebounds, grabbing eight boards for the second-straight game, and he dished out four assists in a career-high 39 minutes of action.

After scoring 19 on Monday night against Towson, as well, Cormier is averaging 23 points in the Greyhounds’ last two games.

 

Through Nine Games

With its seven wins in nine games, the Greyhounds are off to their second-best start in school Division I history at 7-2. Only last year’s team at 8-1 had a better mark through nine games.

 

Busy November

Last Wednesday’s game at Coppin State wrapped up a stretch of eight games in 20 days during the month of November for the Greyhounds. The eight games are the most Loyola men’s basketball has ever played in the month, and the seven wins are also the most during the 11th month of the year.

Previously, the team had played seven games during November just twice, 2007-2008 (4-3 record) and 2008-2009 (2-5).

Charm City Pride

Baltimore born and raised Dylon Cormier plays at or near his best when the Greyhounds face another team from the Baltimore area. The junior guard, who was in the last graduating class at the now closed Cardinal Gibbons High School, has scored 145 points in eight career games against teams from Baltimore and the surrounding suburbs.

Including his career-high 27 on Wednesday, Cormier has averaged 18.1 points against Coppin State (two games), Towson (two), UMBC (three) and Morgan State (one). He has four games with 20 or more points among the eight contests.

In the last year, Cormier has averaged 20.6 in five games against the teams.

 

Doubling Up

Anthony Winbush notched the first double-double of his career last Wednesday night at Coppin State, scoring 12 points and grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds.

His 12 rebounds represented the 12th time in his tenure at Loyola that he has posted 10 or more rebounds, and it was the fourth time he has scored 10 or more points.

He also set a career-high in rebounds, eclipsing the 11 he posted in his seventh career game on November 29, 2008, at Vermont. Winbush also set a career-high in minutes played (37) and matched his previous best in free throws made (five) and attempted (six).

 

Second-Half Defense

After ceding 30 points and a 3-point deficit in the first half, Loyola turned up its defensive pressure on Wednesday night at Coppin State and held the Eagles to 22.6-percent from the field (7-of-31) after the break. They also missed all 12 of their 3-point attempts after the break.

Loyola held Coppin State without a field goal for the first 5-minutes, 30-seconds and the final 6-minutes 6-seconds of the second half. In between, Loyola kept the Eagles without a field goal for a stretch of 4-minutes, 42-seconds.

 

Guards In Charge

Dylon Cormier and Robert Olson teamed for 34 points on Monday night against Towson, and they filled the box score in other ways. The duo combined for 14 rebounds, seven assists and three steals while not committing a single turnover in 75 combined minutes of action.

Each had a half with 12 points, Olson knocking down four 3-pointers in the first half and Cormier scoring 12 in the second.

 

Cormier All-Around

In addition to leading all players with 19 points on Monday night against Towson, Dylon Cormier paced the game with eight rebounds and four assists.

His eight rebounds were one short of his career-high set last year at George Washington, and it marked the second time in his career he has led the Greyhounds in rebounding. He also had eight to lead the team as a freshman on November 21, 2010, in a 73-59 win over Dartmouth.

This season, Cormier is leading the team in scoring (18.4 points per game) and steals (1.6) and is second in assists per game (2.5) and third in rebounding (5.1).

 

Shooting Start

Robert Olson came out of the gate firing last Monday night, scoring six the Greyhound’s first eight points on his first two 3-point attempts of the game. He hit two more threes during the first half and was 4-of-6 from behind the arc at the break.

After Towson cut Loyola’s 10-point halftime lead to six just over 90 seconds into the second period, Olson hit a three from the right side to push the Greyhounds’ advantage back to nine.

In the last two games, Olson has averaged 17.5 points and made nine 3-pointers.

 

Taking Care Of The Ball

Loyola committed just 13 turnovers against Towson (7) and Rhode Island (6). The six were the fewest the Greyhounds have committed since they had only five in the 2010-2011 season-opener on November 12, 2010, at Drexel.

As a team, the Greyhounds are averaging 10.7 miscues per game this season through seven games.

 

Olson Comes Up Big

Robert Olson scored 20 points last Friday night at Rhode Island, coming up one shy of his career-high in scoring (21 at Iona in January 2012 and at Marist in January 2011).

The senior guard made eight field goals, tying his career-high, and his 16 field-goal attempts represented a career-high. He was good from 4-of-9 behind the arc, also the most 3-pointers he’s attempted in a game, and his 39 minutes were the most he’s played since coming to Loyola.

Olson has now scored 20 or more five times as a Greyhound, the last coming when he recorded 21 at Iona on January 13, 2012. He tallied 20 on two occasions and 21 once as a sophomore in 2010-2011. All four of his previous 20 or 21 point games came in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action, and all but one of his five have come on the road.

His game-tying three at Rhode Island was the second of his Loyola career that sent a game to overtime. He nailed a three, also from the left side, against Iona on January 30, 2011, to tie the game a 78-78 with 7.2 seconds on the clock in a game the Greyhounds would win, 88-85, in overtime.

 

Back To The Boards

After the first three games of the season, Loyola was outrebounding teams by an average of nine per game thanks to +14 and +17 performances against Binghamton and UMBC, respectively.

However, the Greyhounds have been outrebounded in each of their last three games by seven (Norfolk State), four (Albany) and five (Rhode Island), an average of 5.5 per game.

Loyola turned it around against Towson, a team that was outrebounding its opponents by nearly 12 boards per game in its first five contests. The Greyhounds and Tigers both had 41 rebounds, as four Loyola players – Dylon Cormier (8), Anthony Winbush (7), Jarred Jones and Robert Olson (both 5) – had five or more in the game.

 

Doubling Up, Part Two

Erik Etherly had his first double-double of the 2012-2013 season, the 14th of his career at Loyola. The Preseason MAAC Player of the Year scored 11 points and had 10 rebounds at Rhode Island.

He leads the team with an 8.0 rebounds per game mark and is second with 15.7 points per game. He is also tops on the team with 10 blocks and 10 steals so far this season.

 

Late Game Heroics

Loyola’s games against Albany and Rhode Island, both wins, have each come down to the last four seconds of regulation (and then some).

On November 18, Albany tied the game with 3.1 ticks on the clock, Loyola Head Coach Jimmy Patsos set up an inbound play in a timeout. Graduate student Anthony Winbush threw a baseball pass 80 feet to Dylon Cormier  who was inside the opposite foul line. Cormier caught the pass, laid it in with his right hand and was fouled in the process by Albany’s D.J. Evans with 1.5 seconds left.

Cormier made the free throw to provide the final margin, and Albany’s inbound pass went off the hands of Evans and out-of-bounds to secure the win.

Robert Olson then sank a 3-pointer with 3.7 on the clock at Rhode Island to force overtime where the Greyhounds would win by four.

 

Steady Performance

Erik Etherly turned in another 20-point game, his second of the season, against Albany, scoring 23 points on 7-of-12 from the floor and 9-of-12 at the line. He also tied Anthony Winbush for team-high honors with seven rebounds.

Etherly had his second 20-plus point game of the week and the young season after recording 22 in Loyola’s Wednesday-night win over UMBC on November 14.

He has now scored 20 or more six times during his tenure at Loyola – hitting or eclipsing the plateau four times last year – and the Greyhounds are 6-0 in those games.

In Loyola’s three wins that week, including a Saturday victory over Norfolk State in which he scored 12 and had nine rebounds, Etherly averaged 19.0 points and 8.0 rebounds. He made 22-of-28 (.786) free throws, as well, during the stretch.

 

Slowing Scorers

Albany guards Mike Black and Jacob Iati entered the November 18 game averaging a combined 34.75 points per game, but Loyola held the duo to just 18, including three on Iati’s desperate heave to tie the game with 3.1 seconds left.

Black, who was averaging 18.25 points in four games was 3-of-8 from the field and scored seven points, while Iati went 3-of-7 after averaging 16.5 prior. They also committed eight turnovers in the game.

In the game following Albany’s contest against Loyola – Tuesday at South Carolina State – Black went off for 23 points, making 9-of-11 shots. As a team, the Great Danes set a NCAA Division I record in that game by making 15 3-pointers, although they hit just five versus Loyola.

The Greyhounds did it again against Towson, limiting the then-reigning Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week Jerrelle Benimon to seven. Benimon entered the game averaging 16.2 per contest.

 

Hubbard Honored

Redshirt freshman guard Tyler Hubbard was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week last Monday after averaging 10.3 points in three Loyola wins last week.

Hubbard scored a career-high 17 on Wednesday night against UMBC and followed with 11 versus Norfolk State. While he scored just three in the Albany game, he was involved in several key defensive possessions for the Greyhounds at the end of the game.

 

Freshmen Produce

A trio of Loyola freshmen combined for 34 points and 15 rebounds against UMBC, as Tyler Hubbard (a redshirt freshman) scored 17, while Jarred Jones and Franz Rassman had eight and nine.

The group also had five assists, six blocked shots and four steals in the win.

Combined the three played 70 minutes against the Retrievers.

 

Brooks’ Big Game

Julius Brooks provided 20 solid minutes in the post off the bench for the Greyhounds, recording eight points and a game-high seven rebounds versus Binghamton. Those numbers were not career-highs for the senior, but they were the best he’s put up in some time.

Brooks saw limited action in 29 games last season, averaging just 4.7 minutes per game, but matched his career-high with 28 minutes. His eight points were his most since scoring a career-best 10 on January 31, 2010, as a freshman, and his seven boards were his high since February 25, 2011, when he had eight. Both of those games came against Niagara University.

He made his first start since February 2010, his freshman season, on Wednesday night against UMBC.

 

MAAC Preseason Poll & Player of the Year

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference unveiled its preseason coaches’ poll and the league’s Preseason Player of the Year on Friday night in a live Preseason Awards Show on ESPN3. Loyola was named the team to beat in 2012-2013, and Erik Etherly was tabbed the Preseason Player of the Year by the coaches. (Complete poll and All-MAAC teams at left).

This is the first time Loyola has been selected No. 1 in the MAAC preseason poll in 24 years in the league, nor had a Greyhound player been named Preseason Player of the Year prior to Etherly.

Three Loyola players were named to the various Preseason All-MAAC teams as voted on by the coaches of the league.

Erik Etherly earned an All-MAAC First Team nod, while Dylon Cormier and Robert Olson were named to the Second Team.

 

Classy Senior

Senior guard Robert Olson was named one of 30 candidates for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award last week. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

Olson was the Greyhounds’ third-leading scorer last season with 11.1 points per game and enters this season Loyola ranked fourth at Loyola in 3-point percentage (138-of-336, .4107) sixth in career 3-pointers made (138) and eighth in 3-pointers attempted (336). Last season, Olson was one of four Loyola players to earn All-MAAC honors, picking up Third Team mention and later All-Tournament honors.

 

High Marks

The Loyola men’s basketball team scored the highest amongst squads in the State of Maryland in the most recent NCAA Graduation Success Rate report. The Greyhounds checked in with a 91-percent GSR, tops among the state’s nine Division I schools, for players who entered the school between 2002-2005.

 

Saint Peter’s Game At The Meadowlands

The Loyola-Saint Peter’s Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game slated for Saturday, December 8, has been moved from the Peacocks’ Jersey City campus to the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, N.J., at the Meadowlands complex.

The Greyhounds and Peacocks will tip-off at 12 noon prior to the second game of the doubleheader between Duke and Temple.

 

Turnaround…Check

Loyola completed the turnaround from finishing the 2003-2004 season with the lowest RPI in NCAA Division I basketball. The Greyhounds finished that season with a 1-27 record the season before Jimmy Patsos took over as head coach.

Since then, Loyola has gone 122-123 and culminated the turnaround by winning a school Division I record 24 games  in 2011-2012.

Patsos is one of only three coaches at the Division I level in the last 20 years to take over a program that had won zero or one game the year prior to then win 100 games at the school. He joins Steve Cleveland (BYU) and Pat Douglass (UC-Irvine) as the others.

 

Patsos Named Coach & Man Of The Year

Jimmy Patsos became the first Loyola coach to earn The Rock/Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors by a vote of his peers in the league.

Patsos guided the Greyhounds to a school Division I high 24 wins and a program MAAC record 13 victories. He earned his 100th career coaching victory in November 2012 and led the Greyhounds to the No. 2 seed in the MAAC Championships.

Later in March, Patsos was named the Skip Prosser Man of the Year award for his work on and off the court, an honor presented by CollegeInsider.com.

 

2012 All-MAAC Honors

For the first time since the league expanded to three All-MAAC teams in 1998, four Greyhounds received all-league honors, topping all teams in the conference. Erik Etherly was named to the All-MAAC First Team, Dylon Cormier to the Second, and Justin Drummond and Robert Olson to the Third.

Loyola led all teams in the MAAC with its four selections, just in front of Iona’s three.

The Greyhounds’ previous high was at the end of the 1997-1998 season when Mike Powell (1st), Jason Rowe (2nd) and Roderick Platt (3rd) earned All-MAAC honors.

Etherly led Loyola in scoring (13.7), rebounding (7.5) and blocked shots (50), while finishing second on the team with 63 assists. He shot .530 from the field, good for third in the conference

Cormier was second on the team in scoring, just back of Etherly, with a 13.4 points per game average while improving his field-goal percentage nearly 10 points from his freshman season to .461 as a sophomore.

Drummond has come off the bench in 29 of the Greyhounds’ 33 games last year and is fourth on the team with 11.1 points per game. The guard as also third in rebounding (3.9), and he has scored in double figures 17 times this year.

Olson was one of the top 3-point shooters in the conference last year. He shot .431 from behind the arc, third-best in the MAAC, and averaged 11.1 points per game. The guard entered the month of January averaging less than nine points per game, but from that point forward, he was the team’s second-leading scorer at nearly 13 a contest.

 

Century Mark

Head Coach Jimmy Patsos became the third coach in Loyola history to win 100 games when the Greyhounds defeated UMBC, 73-63, on the road last season. Patsos, who is now in his ninth season, took over a team that finished 1-27 during the 2002-2003 season. He won his 100th game in his 215th career game.

Last season, Patsos moved into third-place all time at Loyola in victories, trailing only Lefty Reitz (349 wins, 1937-44, 1945-61) and Nap Doherty (165, 1961-74).

Loyola All-Time Coaching Wins List
1.	349	Lefty Reitz	1937-1944, 1945-1961
2.	165	Nap Doherty	1961-1974
3.	129	Jimmy Patsos	2004-present
4.	85	Mark Amatucci	1982-1989
5.	72	Gary Dicovitsky	1976-1981

 

 

Baltimore Bred And More From Nearby

Since taking over as head coach in 2004, Jimmy Patsos has put an emphasis on recruiting locally, and it has never shown as much as on this year’s roster. Four players – junior guard Dylon Cormier (Cardinal Gibbons), junior forward Jordan Latham (City) and sophomore guard R.J. Williams and freshman forward Josh Forney (St. Frances) are products of schools within the city limits.

Six more players played in high school within 50 miles of Loyola, as the crow flies (thanks daftlogic.com): Jarred Jones, John Carroll, 20.5; Tyler Hubbard, Montrose Christian, 32.6 miles; Robert Olson, Georgetown Prep, 33.9; Anthony Winbush, T.C. Williams, 43.7; and Erik Etherly, Annandale, 47.9.

 

What’s Next

The Greyhounds continue MAAC action with a game on Saturday, December 8, against Saint Peter’s University. The contest will be played in East Rutherford, N.J., at the IZOD Center.

BALTIMORE – The Coppin State men’s basketball team will travel to Bloomington, Ind., to take on top-ranked Indiana on Saturday in Assembly Hall in the Eagles first-ever meeting with the number one ranked team in the nation.

Coppin State, which has faced 48 ranked teams in its history, has played five games against teams ranked fourth in the nation, which stood as its highest-ranked opponent to date. The Eagles met Kansas in 1994, Missouri in 2003, Oklahoma in 2009 and Connecticut in 2010 and 2011 who were all ranked fourth at the time of the game.

The Eagles will bring a 1-5 record into the game after having lost to Loyola 67-51 on Wednesday in the Physical Education Complex.

Coppin State has been led offensively by freshman Patrick Cole and senior Troy Franklin and defensively by junior Michael Murray. Cole leads the Eagles averaging 15.3 points per game, while Franklin is averaging 12.8 points per game. The two also rank one-two in assists, steals and three-point baskets. Murray has posted five consecutive double-figure rebounding games and four consecutive double-doubles to lead the CSU defensive effort.

Indiana, which is undefeated at 7-0, is paced by all-America Cody Zeller who is averaging 15.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. The Hoosiers have five players averaging in double figures and are averaging 87.9 points per game.

The Hoosiers routed No. 13 North Carolina 83-59 in their latest game and have allowed only one opponent to score more than 61 points on them this season.

The game, which can be seen on the Big Ten Network, will tip at 7:30 p.m.

Opponent	Florida Gulf Coast Eagles
Date	Saturday, December 1, 2012
Time	7:05 p.m.
Location	Fort Myers, Fla. | Alico Arena

Game Data

• Loyola University Maryland opens the month of December with a trip to the Sunshine State where it will take on Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers on Saturday, December 1, 2012.
• Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Alico Arena.

Series History

• Loyola and Florida Gulf Coast will meet for the second time when they take the court on Saturday. The Greyhounds and Eagles met on November 27, 2012, and Loyola held off a late Florida Gulf Coast rally for a 77-74 win in Reitz Arena.
• The Greyhounds led by 16, 37-21, with 71 seconds left in the first half, but the Eagles scored 16 of the second half’s first 23 points to cut the advantage to 44-40 with 14:12 to go in regulation. Loyola would go up by double figures three times after that, but a Christophe Varidel three with 3:19 on the clock made it 64-60.
• Robert Olson hit two free throws at 1:23 to put Loyola in front 71-64, but Bernard Thompson made a three for the Eagles with 13.4 remaining, and it was a 75-74 Loyola lead. Anthony Winbush converted two free throws, and Olson blocked an Eagles’ 3-point attempt to secure the win.

Last Time Out

• Loyola did not lead in the first half, but the Greyhounds scored the second half’s first five points and led for good from that point in a 67-51 victory on Wednesday night at Coppin State University.
• Dylon Cormier scored a career-high 27 points, making 11-of-12 from the free-throw line, while Anthony Winbush recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
• A solid defensive effort by Loyola in the second half end the Eagles to just 22.6-percent shooting after the break and 29-percent for the game.
• The Greyhounds also used advantages in rebounds (48-37), free throws attempted (26-12) and free throws made (21-8).

Cormier’s Career-High

• Dylon Cormier had a career-high scoring night at Coppin State on Wednesday, tallying 27 points on 7-of-14 shooting. He made 11-of-12 from the line, 5-of-6 in the final five minutes of the game.
• Cormier eclipsed his previous career-best of 26 set last season in a win at George Washington.
• The junior guard also was one off his career-high in rebounds, grabbing eight boards for the second-straight game, and he dished out four assists in a career-high 39 minutes of action.
• After scoring 19 on Monday night against Towson, as well, Cormier is averaging 23 points in the Greyhounds’ last two games.

Through Eight Games

• With its seven wins in eight games, the Greyhounds matched last year’s team for the best start in school Division I history at 7-1. The program’s previous best start through eight games was 6-2 during the 2005-2006 season.

Busy November

• Wednesday’s game at Coppin State wrapped up a stretch of eight games in 20 days during the month of November for the Greyhounds. The eight games are the most Loyola men’s basketball has ever played in the month, and the seven wins are also the most during the 11th month of the year.
• Previously, the team had played seven games during November just twice, 2007-2008 (4-3 record) and 2008-2009 (2-5).

Charm City Pride

• Baltimore born and raised Dylon Cormier plays at or near his best when the Greyhounds face another team from the Baltimore area. The junior guard, who was in the last graduating class at the now closed Cardinal Gibbons High School, has scored 145 points in eight career games against teams from Baltimore and the surrounding suburbs.
• Including his career-high 27 on Wednesday, Cormier has averaged 18.1 points against Coppin State (two games), Towson (two), UMBC (three) and Morgan State (one). He has four games with 20 or more points among the eight contests.
• In the last year, Cormier has averaged 20.6 in five games against the teams.

Doubling Up

• Anthony Winbush notched the first double-double of his career on Wednesday night at Coppin State, scoring 12 points and grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds.
• His 12 rebounds represented the 12th time in his tenure at Loyola that he has posted 10 or more rebounds, and it was the fourth time he has scored 10 or more points.
• He also set a career-high in rebounds, eclipsing the 11 he posted in his seventh career game on November 29, 2008, at Vermont. Winbush also set a career-high in minutes played (37) and matched his previous best in free throws made (five) and attempted (six).

Second-Half Defense

• After ceding 30 points and a 3-point deficit in the first half, Loyola turned up its defensive pressure on Wednesday night at Coppin State and held the Eagles to 22.6-percent from the field (7-of-31) after the break. They also missed all 12 of their 3-point attempts after the break.
• Loyola held Coppin State without a field goal for the first 5-minutes, 30-seconds and the final 6-minutes 6-seconds of the second half. In between, Loyola kept the Eagles without a field goal for a stretch of 4-minutes, 42-seconds.

Jones Provides Second-Half Spark

• Jarred Jones entered the game with 11:36 on the second-half clock and Loyola up by just three. He played the next seven-plus minutes before returning to the bench at the 4:10 mark. During that span, Loyola increased its lead to 12 points, thanks in part to seven of Jones’ career-high tying nine points. He also had two of his five rebounds and a steal during the run.

Guards In Charge

• Dylon Cormier and Robert Olson teamed for 34 points on Monday night against Towson, and they filled the box score in other ways. The duo combined for 14 rebounds, seven assists and three steals while not committing a single turnover in 75 combined minutes of action.
• Each had a half with 12 points, Olson knocking down four 3-pointers in the first half and Cormier scoring 12 in the second.

Cormier All-Around

• In addition to leading all players with 19 points on Monday night against Towson, Dylon Cormier paced the game with eight rebounds and four assists.
• His eight rebounds were one short of his career-high set last year at George Washington, and it marked the second time in his career he has led the Greyhounds in rebounding. He also had eight to lead the team as a freshman on November 21, 2010, in a 73-59 win over Dartmouth.
• This season, Cormier is leading the team in scoring (18.4 points per game) and steals (1.6) and is second in assists per game (2.5) and third in rebounding (5.1).

Shooting Start

• Robert Olson came out of the gate firing on Monday night, scoring six the Greyhound’s first eight points on his first two 3-point attempts of the game. He hit two more threes during the first half and was 4-of-6 from behind the arc at the break.
• After Towson cut Loyola’s 10-point halftime lead to six just over 90 seconds into the second period, Olson hit a three from the right side to push the Greyhounds’ advantage back to nine.
• In the last two games, Olson has averaged 17.5 points and made nine 3-pointers.

Taking Care Of The Ball

• Loyola has committed just 13 turnovers against Towson (7) and Rhode Island (6). The six were the fewest the Greyhounds have committed since they had only five in the 2010-2011 season-opener on November 12, 2010, at Drexel.
• As a team, the Greyhounds are averaging 10.7 miscues per game this season through seven games.

Olson Comes Up Big

• Robert Olson scored 20 points last Friday night at Rhode Island, coming up one shy of his career-high in scoring (21 at Iona in January 2012 and at Marist in January 2011).
• The senior guard made eight field goals, tying his career-high, and his 16 field-goal attempts represented a career-high. He was good from 4-of-9 behind the arc, also the most 3-pointers he’s attempted in a game, and his 39 minutes were the most he’s played since coming to Loyola.
• Olson has now scored 20 or more five times as a Greyhound, the last coming when he recorded 21 at Iona on January 13, 2012. He tallied 20 on two occasions and 21 once as a sophomore in 2010-2011. All four of his previous 20 or 21 point games came in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action, and all but one of his five have come on the road.
• His game-tying three at Rhode Island was the second of his Loyola career that sent a game to overtime. He nailed a three, also from the left side, against Iona on January 30, 2011, to tie the game a 78-78 with 7.2 seconds on the clock in a game the Greyhounds would win, 88-85, in overtime.

Back To The Boards

• After the first three games of the season, Loyola was outrebounding teams by an average of nine per game thanks to +14 and +17 performances against Binghamton and UMBC, respectively.
• However, the Greyhounds have been outrebounded in each of their last three games by seven (Norfolk State), four (Albany) and five (Rhode Island), an average of 5.5 per game.
• Loyola turned it around against Towson, a team that was outrebounding its opponents by nearly 12 boards per game in its first five contests. The Greyhounds and Tigers both had 41 rebounds, as four Loyola players – Dylon Cormier (8), Anthony Winbush (7), Jarred Jones and Robert Olson (both 5) – had five or more in the game.

Latham Looms Large

• Jordan Latham had one of his better games as a collegian last Friday night at Rhode Island, playing a career-high 27 minutes off the bench before fouling out midway through overtime.
• Latham scored a career-best nine points and also had five rebounds, an assist and a block, and he was at his best late in the tight game.
• He scored the first three Loyola points of overtime, on a layup and a free throw, after the Rams had jumped out to a 53-50 lead in the extra frame.

Doubling Up, Part Two

• Erik Etherly had his first double-double of the 2012-2013 season, the 14th of his career at Loyola. The Preseason MAAC Player of the Year scored 11 points and had 10 rebounds at Rhode Island.
• He leads the team with an 8.0 rebounds per game mark and is second with 15.7 points per game. He is also tops on the team with 10 blocks and 10 steals so far this season.

Late Game Heroics

• Loyola’s games against Albany and Rhode Island, both wins, have each come down to the last four seconds of regulation (and then some).
• On November 18, Albany tied the game with 3.1 ticks on the clock, Loyola Head Coach Jimmy Patsos set up an inbound play in a timeout. Graduate student Anthony Winbush threw a baseball pass 80 feet to Dylon Cormier  who was inside the opposite foul line. Cormier caught the pass, laid it in with his right hand and was fouled in the process by Albany’s D.J. Evans with 1.5 seconds left.
• Cormier made the free throw to provide the final margin, and Albany’s inbound pass went off the hands of Evans and out-of-bounds to secure the win.
• Robert Olson then sank a 3-pointer with 3.7 on the clock at Rhode Island to force overtime where the Greyhounds would win by four.

Winbush Distributing

• In his first five games back this season, graduate student Anthony Winbush has already leading the team in assists per game (3.3).
• His five assists against both Albany and Rhode Island both tied his career-high, a number he previously reached just once (in a January 22, 2012, win over Saint Peter’s at home).

Steady Performance

• Erik Etherly turned in another 20-point game, his second of the season, against Albany, scoring 23 points on 7-of-12 from the floor and 9-of-12 at the line. He also tied Anthony Winbush for team-high honors with seven rebounds.
• Etherly had his second 20-plus point game of the week and the young season after recording 22 in Loyola’s Wednesday-night win over UMBC on November 14.
• He has now scored 20 or more six times during his tenure at Loyola – hitting or eclipsing the plateau four times last year – and the Greyhounds are 6-0 in those games.
• In Loyola’s three wins that week, including a Saturday victory over Norfolk State in which he scored 12 and had nine rebounds, Etherly averaged 19.0 points and 8.0 rebounds. He made 22-of-28 (.786) free throws, as well, during the stretch.

Slowing Scorers

• Albany guards Mike Black and Jacob Iati entered the November 18 game averaging a combined 34.75 points per game, but Loyola held the duo to just 18, including three on Iati’s desperate heave to tie the game with 3.1 seconds left.
• Black, who was averaging 18.25 points in four games was 3-of-8 from the field and scored seven points, while Iati went 3-of-7 after averaging 16.5 prior. They also committed eight turnovers in the game.
• In the game following Albany’s contest against Loyola – Tuesday at South Carolina State – Black went off for 23 points, making 9-of-11 shots. As a team, the Great Danes set a NCAA Division I record in that game by making 15 3-pointers, although they hit just five versus Loyola.
• The Greyhounds did it again against Towson, limiting the then-reigning Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week Jerrelle Benimon to seven. Benimon entered the game averaging 16.2 per contest.

Hubbard Honored

• Redshirt freshman guard Tyler Hubbard was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week last Monday after averaging 10.3 points in three Loyola wins last week.
• Hubbard scored a career-high 17 on Wednesday night against UMBC and followed with 11 versus Norfolk State. While he scored just three in the Albany game, he was involved in several key defensive possessions for the Greyhounds at the end of the game.

Freshmen Produce

• A trio of Loyola freshmen combined for 34 points and 15 rebounds against UMBC, as Tyler Hubbard (a redshirt freshman) scored 17, while Jarred Jonesand Franz Rassman had eight and nine.
• The group also had five assists, six blocked shots and four steals in the win.
• Combined the three played 70 minutes against the Retrievers.

Brooks’ Big Game

• Julius Brooks provided 20 solid minutes in the post off the bench for the Greyhounds, recording eight points and a game-high seven rebounds versus Binghamton. Those numbers were not career-highs for the senior, but they were the best he’s put up in some time.
• Brooks saw limited action in 29 games last season, averaging just 4.7 minutes per game, but matched his career-high with 28 minutes. His eight points were his most since scoring a career-best 10 on January 31, 2010, as a freshman, and his seven boards were his high since February 25, 2011, when he had eight. Both of those games came against Niagara University.
• He made his first start since February 2010, his freshman season, on Wednesday night against UMBC.

MAAC Preseason Poll & Player of the Year

• The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference unveiled its preseason coaches’ poll and the league’s Preseason Player of the Year on Friday night in a live Preseason Awards Show on ESPN3. Loyola was named the team to beat in 2012-2013, and Erik Etherly was tabbed the Preseason Player of the Year by the coaches. (Complete poll and All-MAAC teams at left).
• This is the first time Loyola has been selected No. 1 in the MAAC preseason poll in 24 years in the league, nor had a Greyhound player been named Preseason Player of the Year prior to Etherly.
• Three Loyola players were named to the various Preseason All-MAAC teams as voted on by the coaches of the league.
• Erik Etherly earned an All-MAAC First Team nod, while Dylon Cormier and Robert Olson were named to the Second Team.

Classy Senior

• Senior guard Robert Olson was named one of 30 candidates for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award last week. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
• Olson was the Greyhounds’ third-leading scorer last season with 11.1 points per game and enters this season Loyola ranked fourth at Loyola in 3-point percentage (138-of-336, .4107) sixth in career 3-pointers made (138) and eighth in 3-pointers attempted (336). Last season, Olson was one of four Loyola players to earn All-MAAC honors, picking up Third Team mention and later All-Tournament honors.

High Marks

• The Loyola men’s basketball team scored the highest amongst squads in the State of Maryland in the most recent NCAA Graduation Success Rate report. The Greyhounds checked in with a 91-percent GSR, tops among the state’s nine Division I schools, for players who entered the school between 2002-2005.

Saint Peter’s Game At The Meadowlands

• The Loyola-Saint Peter’s Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game slated for Saturday, December 8, has been moved from the Peacocks’ Jersey City campus to the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, N.J., at the Meadowlands complex.
• The Greyhounds and Peacocks will tip-off at 12 noon prior to the second game of the doubleheader between Duke and Temple.

Turnaround…Check

• Loyola completed the turnaround from finishing the 2003-2004 season with the lowest RPI in NCAA Division I basketball. The Greyhounds finished that season with a 1-27 record the season before Jimmy Patsos took over as head coach.
• Since then, Loyola has gone 122-123 and culminated the turnaround by winning a school Division I record 24 games  in 2011-2012.
• Patsos is one of only three coaches at the Division I level in the last 20 years to take over a program that had won zero or one game the year prior to then win 100 games at the school. He joins Steve Cleveland (BYU) and Pat Douglass (UC-Irvine) as the others.

Patsos Named Coach & Man Of The Year

• Jimmy Patsos became the first Loyola coach to earn The Rock/Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors by a vote of his peers in the league.
• Patsos guided the Greyhounds to a school Division I high 24 wins and a program MAAC record 13 victories. He earned his 100th career coaching victory in November 2012 and led the Greyhounds to the No. 2 seed in the MAAC Championships.
• Later in March, Patsos was named the Skip Prosser Man of the Year award for his work on and off the court, an honor presented by CollegeInsider.com.

2012 All-MAAC Honors

• For the first time since the league expanded to three All-MAAC teams in 1998, four Greyhounds received all-league honors, topping all teams in the conference. Erik Etherly was named to the All-MAAC First Team, Dylon Cormier to the Second, and Justin Drummond and Robert Olson to the Third.
• Loyola led all teams in the MAAC with its four selections, just in front of Iona’s three.
• The Greyhounds’ previous high was at the end of the 1997-1998 season when Mike Powell (1st), Jason Rowe (2nd) and Roderick Platt (3rd) earned All-MAAC honors.
• Etherly led Loyola in scoring (13.7), rebounding (7.5) and blocked shots (50), while finishing second on the team with 63 assists. He shot .530 from the field, good for third in the conference
• Cormier was second on the team in scoring, just back of Etherly, with a 13.4 points per game average while improving his field-goal percentage nearly 10 points from his freshman season to .461 as a sophomore.
• Drummond has come off the bench in 29 of the Greyhounds’ 33 games last year and is fourth on the team with 11.1 points per game. The guard as also third in rebounding (3.9), and he has scored in double figures 17 times this year.
• Olson was one of the top 3-point shooters in the conference last year. He shot .431 from behind the arc, third-best in the MAAC, and averaged 11.1 points per game. The guard entered the month of January averaging less than nine points per game, but from that point forward, he was the team’s second-leading scorer at nearly 13 a contest.

Century Mark

• Head Coach Jimmy Patsos became the third coach in Loyola history to win 100 games when the Greyhounds defeated UMBC, 73-63, on the road last season. Patsos, who is now in his ninth season, took over a team that finished 1-27 during the 2002-2003 season. He won his 100th game in his 215th career game.
• Last season, Patsos moved into third-place all time at Loyola in victories, trailing only Lefty Reitz (349 wins, 1937-44, 1945-61) and Nap Doherty (165, 1961-74).

Loyola All-Time Coaching Wins List
1.	349	Lefty Reitz	1937-1944, 1945-1961
2.	165	Nap Doherty	1961-1974
3.	129	Jimmy Patsos	2004-present
4.	85	Mark Amatucci	1982-1989
5.	72	Gary Dicovitsky	1976-1981

Baltimore Bred And More From Nearby

• Since taking over as head coach in 2004, Jimmy Patsos has put an emphasis on recruiting locally, and it has never shown as much as on this year’s roster. Four players – junior guard Dylon Cormier (Cardinal Gibbons), junior forward Jordan Latham (City) and sophomore guard R.J. Williams and freshman forward Josh Forney (St. Frances) are products of schools within the city limits.
• Six more players played in high school within 50 miles of Loyola, as the crow flies (thanks daftlogic.com): Jarred Jones, John Carroll, 20.5; Tyler Hubbard, Montrose Christian, 32.6 miles; Robert Olson, Georgetown Prep, 33.9; Anthony Winbush, T.C. Williams, 43.7; and Erik Etherly, Annandale, 47.9.

What’s Next

• Loyola starts Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play next week with a home game against Niagara University on Wednesday, December 5, at 7:30 p.m.

Opponent	Coppin State Eagles
Date	Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Time	7:30 p.m.
Location	Baltimore, Md. | Physical Education Center

Game Data

Loyola University Maryland plays its second in three days against a team that is located within five miles of the Evergreen campus when it travels across Baltimore to face Coppin State University on Wednesday, November 28. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. at the Eagles’ Physical Education Center.

The game is one of four the Greyhounds will play during the regular season against teams for the State of Maryland. Loyola has defeated UMBC (86-70) and Towson (65-33) and will also host Mount St. Mary’s on December 15.

 

Series History

Loyola and Coppin State will meet for the ninth time when they take the court on Wednesday night with the Eagles holding a 5-3 advantage in the previous eight contests.

In the last three contests between the schools (2008, 2010 and 2011), the home team has won each time with Loyola settling last year’s contest with a 78-68 victory in Reitz Arena.

Dylon Cormier scored 20 for the Greyhounds in that game, and Erik Etherly had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds as five Loyola players scored in double figures. The Greyhounds held a 47-25 advantage in rebounding as four players, in addition to Etherly, had six or more boards.

 

Listen In

The game can be heard worldwide on LoyolaGreyhounds.com.

 

Last Time Out

Towson scored the first four points of the game, but an 8-0 run after that sparked by two Robert Olson threes put Loyola in front for the remainder of the game, as the Greyhounds defeated Towson, 65-53, on Monday night in Reitz Arena.

Olson finished with five 3-pointers, scoring all of his 15 points from behind the arc, and Dylon Cormier led all players with 19. Olson scored 12 in the first half, while Cormier deposited 12 of his 19 in the second.

Cormier also led all players in rebounding with eight, while the Greyhounds matched Towson’s rebounding total, 41-41. Entering the game, Towson had outrebounded its opponents by a margin of 11.6 per game.

 

Guards In Charge

Dylon Cormier and Robert Olson teamed for 34 points on Monday night against Towson, and they filled the box score in other ways. The duo combined for 14 rebounds, seven assists and three steals while not committing a single turnover in 75 combined minutes of action.

Each had a half with 12 points, Olson knocking down four 3-pointers in the first half and Cormier scoring 12 in the second.

 

Cormier All-Around

In addition to leading all players with 19 points on Monday night against Towson, Dylon Cormier paced the game with eight rebounds and four assists.

His eight rebounds were one short of his career-high set last year at George Washington, and it marked the second time in his career he has led the Greyhounds in rebounding. He also had eight to lead the team as a freshman on November 21, 2010, in a 73-59 win over Dartmouth.

This season, Cormier is leading the team in scoring (17.1 points per game) and steals (1.7) and is second in assists per game (2.3) and third in rebounding (4.7).

 

Shooting Start

Robert Olson came out of the gate firing on Monday night, scoring six the Greyhound’s first eight points on his first two 3-point attempts of the game. He hit two more threes during the first half and was 4-of-6 from behind the arc at the break.

After Towson cut Loyola’s 10-point halftime lead to six just over 90 seconds into the second period, Olson hit a three from the right side to push the Greyhounds’ advantage back to nine.

In the last two games, Olson has averaged 17.5 points and made nine 3-pointers.

 

Taking Care Of The Ball

Loyola has committed just 13 turnovers in its last two games after having seven against Towson and six at Rhode Island on November 23.. The six were the fewest the Greyhounds have committed since they had only five in the 2010-2011 season-opener on November 12, 2010, at Drexel.

As a team, the Greyhounds are averaging 10.7 miscues per game this season through seven games.

 

Olson Comes Up Big

Robert Olson scored 20 points last Friday night at Rhode Island, coming up one shy of his career-high in scoring (21 at Iona in January 2012 and at Marist in January 2011).

The senior guard made eight field goals, tying his career-high, and his 16 field-goal attempts represented a career-high. He was good from 4-of-9 behind the arc, also the most 3-pointers he’s attempted in a game, and his 39 minutes were the most he’s played since coming to Loyola.

Olson has now scored 20 or more five times as a Greyhound, the last coming when he recorded 21 at Iona on January 13, 2012. He tallied 20 on two occasions and 21 once as a sophomore in 2010-2011. All four of his previous 20 or 21 point games came in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action, and all but one of his five have come on the road.

His game-tying three at Rhode Island was the second of his Loyola career that sent a game to overtime. He nailed a three, also from the left side, against Iona on January 30, 2011, to tie the game a 78-78 with 7.2 seconds on the clock in a game the Greyhounds would win, 88-85, in overtime.

 

Back To The Boards

After the first three games of the season, Loyola was outrebounding teams by an average of nine per game thanks to +14 and +17 performances against Binghamton and UMBC, respectively.

However, the Greyhounds have been outrebounded in each of their last three games by seven (Norfolk State), four (Albany) and five (Rhode Island), an average of 5.5 per game.

Loyola turned it around against Towson, a team that was outrebounding its opponents by nearly 12 boards per game in its first five contests. The Greyhounds and Tigers both had 41 rebounds, as four Loyola players – Dylon Cormier (8), Anthony Winbush (7), Jarred Jones and Robert Olson (both 5) – had five or more in the game.

 

Latham Looms Large

Jordan Latham had one of his better games as a collegian last Friday night at Rhode Island, playing a career-high 27 minutes off the bench before fouling out midway through overtime.

Latham scored a career-best nine points and also had five rebounds, an assist and a block, and he was at his best late in the tight game.

He scored the first three Loyola points of overtime, on a layup and a free throw, after the Rams had jumped out to a 53-50 lead in the extra frame.

 

Doubling Up

Erik Etherly had his first double-double of the 2012-2013 season, the 14th of his career at Loyola. The Preseason MAAC Player of the Year scored 11 points and had 10 rebounds at Rhode Island.

He leads the team with an 8.0 rebounds per game mark and is second with 15.7 points per game. He is also tops on the team with 10 blocks and 10 steals so far this season.

 

Late Game Heroics

Loyola’s games against Albany and Rhode Island, both wins, have each come down to the last four seconds of regulation (and then some).

On November 18, Albany tied the game with 3.1 ticks on the clock, Loyola Head Coach Jimmy Patsos set up an inbound play in a timeout. Graduate student Anthony Winbush threw a baseball pass 80 feet to Dylon Cormier  who was inside the opposite foul line. Cormier caught the pass, laid it in with his right hand and was fouled in the process by Albany’s D.J. Evans with 1.5 seconds left.

Cormier made the free throw to provide the final margin, and Albany’s inbound pass went off the hands of Evans and out-of-bounds to secure the win.

Robert Olson then sank a 3-pointer with 3.7 on the clock at Rhode Island to force overtime where the Greyhounds would win by four.

 

Winbush Distributing

In his first four games back this season, graduate student Anthony Winbush has already leading the team in assists per game (3.5).

His five assists against both Albany and Rhode Island both tied his career-high, a number he previously reached just once (in a January 22, 2012, win over Saint Peter’s at home).

 

Steady Performance

Erik Etherly turned in another 20-point game, his second of the season, against Albany, scoring 23 points on 7-of-12 from the floor and 9-of-12 at the line. He also tied Anthony Winbush for team-high honors with seven rebounds.

Etherly had his second 20-plus point game of the week and the young season after recording 22 in Loyola’s Wednesday-night win over UMBC on November 14.

He has now scored 20 or more six times during his tenure at Loyola – hitting or eclipsing the plateau four times last year – and the Greyhounds are 6-0 in those games.

In Loyola’s three wins that week, including a Saturday victory over Norfolk State in which he scored 12 and had nine rebounds, Etherly averaged 19.0 points and 8.0 rebounds. He made 22-of-28 (.786) free throws, as well, during the stretch.

 

Slowing Scorers

Albany guards Mike Black and Jacob Iati entered the November 18 game averaging a combined 34.75 points per game, but Loyola held the duo to just 18, including three on Iati’s desperate heave to tie the game with 3.1 seconds left.

Black, who was averaging 18.25 points in four games was 3-of-8 from the field and scored seven points, while Iati went 3-of-7 after averaging 16.5 prior. They also committed eight turnovers in the game.

In the game following Albany’s contest against Loyola – Tuesday at South Carolina State – Black went off for 23 points, making 9-of-11 shots. As a team, the Great Danes set a NCAA Division I record in that game by making 15 3-pointers, although they hit just five versus Loyola.

The Greyhounds did it again against Towson, limiting the then-reigning Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week Jerrelle Benimon to seven. Benimon entered the game averaging 16.2 per contest.

 

Hubbard Honored

Redshirt freshman guard Tyler Hubbard was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week last Monday after averaging 10.3 points in three Loyola wins last week.

Hubbard scored a career-high 17 on Wednesday night against UMBC and followed with 11 versus Norfolk State. While he scored just three in the Albany game, he was involved in several key defensive possessions for the Greyhounds at the end of the game.

This season, Hubbard is fourth on the team with a 9.0 points per game average. He is shooting .500 from both 3-point range (12-of-24) and the field at large (15-of-30).

 

Defensive Stance

Loyola used a strong defensive presence in its win over Norfolk State. The Greyhounds forced 19 turnovers, 11 coming via Greyhounds’ steals, a season-high. Loyola also held Norfolk State to 35.8-percent from the field, 33.3-percent in the second half.

Anthony Winbush and Robert Olson each had three steals, and Dylon Cormier came up with a pair.

The Greyhounds also matched their season-high with eight blocked shots. Jordan Latham and Erik Etherly each swatted three, while Jarred Jones had the other two.

 

Freshmen Produce

A trio of Loyola freshmen combined for 34 points and 15 rebounds against UMBC, as Tyler Hubbard (a redshirt freshman) scored 17, while Jarred Jones and Franz Rassman had eight and nine.

The group also had five assists, six blocked shots and four steals in the win.

Combined the three played 70 minutes against the Retrievers.

 

Jones Making Early Impact

Freshman Jarred Jones has started the first five games of his collegiate career and made a difference on the court for the Greyhounds. A two-time All-Metro honoree by The Baltimore Sun at John Carroll High School, Jones scored nine points and had six rebounds on Sunday evening at Washington. He followed that with a box-score filling nine points, five rebounds, three blocks, three steals and two assists versus UMBC.

In his first game, he debuted with just one point, but he filled several box-score categories in his effort. Jones tallied three rebounds and two each of blocked shots, steals and assists.

 

Hubbard From Behind The Line

Tyler Hubbard knocked down all but one of his 3-point attempts against UMBC and has made 8-of-17 this season from long distance. He scored a career-best 17 points against the Retrievers and also had two assists and a steal.

His 12 3-pointers made lead the team, and he is fourth on the squad in scoring with a 9.0 points per game average.

In his collegiate debut against Binghamton, he made 4-of-9 shots, 3-of-7 from 3-point range, and finished the night with 11 points in his collegiate debut. In the process, he became the first player to reach double figures in his first collegiate game since Jawaan Wright came off the bench to score 10 on November 19, 2005, against Towson University.

 

Brooks’ Big Game

Julius Brooks provided 20 solid minutes in the post off the bench for the Greyhounds, recording eight points and a game-high seven rebounds versus Binghamton. Those numbers were not career-highs for the senior, but they were the best he’s put up in some time.

Brooks saw limited action in 29 games last season, averaging just 4.7 minutes per game, but matched his career-high with 28 minutes. His eight points were his most since scoring a career-best 10 on January 31, 2010, as a freshman, and his seven boards were his high since February 25, 2011, when he had eight. Both of those games came against Niagara University.

At Washington, he scored five, had a pair of rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot against the Huskies.

He made his first start since February 2010, his freshman season, on Wednesday night against UMBC.

 

MAAC Preseason Poll & Player of the Year

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference unveiled its preseason coaches’ poll and the league’s Preseason Player of the Year on Friday night in a live Preseason Awards Show on ESPN3. Loyola was named the team to beat in 2012-2013, and Erik Etherly was tabbed the Preseason Player of the Year by the coaches. (Complete poll and All-MAAC teams at left).

This is the first time Loyola has been selected No. 1 in the MAAC preseason poll in 24 years in the league, nor had a Greyhound player been named Preseason Player of the Year prior to Etherly.

Three Loyola players were named to the various Preseason All-MAAC teams as voted on by the coaches of the league.

Erik Etherly earned an All-MAAC First Team nod, while Dylon Cormier and Robert Olson were named to the Second Team.

 

Classy Senior

Senior guard Robert Olson was named one of 30 candidates for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award last week. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

Olson was the Greyhounds’ third-leading scorer last season with 11.1 points per game and enters this season Loyola ranked fourth at Loyola in 3-point percentage (138-of-336, .4107) sixth in career 3-pointers made (138) and eighth in 3-pointers attempted (336). Last season, Olson was one of four Loyola players to earn All-MAAC honors, picking up Third Team mention and later All-Tournament honors.

 

High Marks

The Loyola men’s basketball team scored the highest amongst squads in the State of Maryland in the most recent NCAA Graduation Success Rate report. The Greyhounds checked in with a 91-percent GSR, tops among the state’s nine Division I schools, for players who entered the school between 2002-2005.

 

Saint Peter’s Game At The Meadowlands

The Loyola-Saint Peter’s Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game slated for Saturday, December 8, has been moved from the Peacocks’ Jersey City campus to the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, N.J., at the Meadowlands complex.

The Greyhounds and Peacocks will tip-off at 12 noon prior to the second game of the doubleheader between Duke and Temple.

 

Turnaround…Check

Loyola completed the turnaround from finishing the 2003-2004 season with the lowest RPI in NCAA Division I basketball. The Greyhounds finished that season with a 1-27 record the season before Jimmy Patsos took over as head coach.

Since then, Loyola has gone 122-123 and culminated the turnaround by winning a school Division I record 24 games  in 2011-2012.

Patsos is one of only three coaches at the Division I level in the last 20 years to take over a program that had won zero or one game the year prior to then win 100 games at the school. He joins Steve Cleveland (BYU) and Pat Douglass (UC-Irvine) as the others.

 

Patsos Named Coach & Man Of The Year

Jimmy Patsos became the first Loyola coach to earn The Rock/Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors by a vote of his peers in the league.

Patsos guided the Greyhounds to a school Division I high 24 wins and a program MAAC record 13 victories. He earned his 100th career coaching victory in November 2012 and led the Greyhounds to the No. 2 seed in the MAAC Championships.

Later in March, Patsos was named the Skip Prosser Man of the Year award for his work on and off the court, an honor presented by CollegeInsider.com.

 

2012 All-MAAC Honors

For the first time since the league expanded to three All-MAAC teams in 1998, four Greyhounds received all-league honors, topping all teams in the conference. Erik Etherly was named to the All-MAAC First Team, Dylon Cormier to the Second, and Justin Drummond and Robert Olson to the Third.

Loyola led all teams in the MAAC with its four selections, just in front of Iona’s three.

The Greyhounds’ previous high was at the end of the 1997-1998 season when Mike Powell (1st), Jason Rowe (2nd) and Roderick Platt (3rd) earned All-MAAC honors.

Etherly led Loyola in scoring (13.7), rebounding (7.5) and blocked shots (50), while finishing second on the team with 63 assists. He shot .530 from the field, good for third in the conference

Cormier was second on the team in scoring, just back of Etherly, with a 13.4 points per game average while improving his field-goal percentage nearly 10 points from his freshman season to .461 as a sophomore.

Drummond has come off the bench in 29 of the Greyhounds’ 33 games last year and is fourth on the team with 11.1 points per game. The guard as also third in rebounding (3.9), and he has scored in double figures 17 times this year.

Olson was one of the top 3-point shooters in the conference last year. He shot .431 from behind the arc, third-best in the MAAC, and averaged 11.1 points per game. The guard entered the month of January averaging less than nine points per game, but from that point forward, he was the team’s second-leading scorer at nearly 13 a contest.

 

Century Mark

Head Coach Jimmy Patsos became the third coach in Loyola history to win 100 games when the Greyhounds defeated UMBC, 73-63, on the road last season. Patsos, who is now in his ninth season, took over a team that finished 1-27 during the 2002-2003 season. He won his 100th game in his 215th career game.

Last season, Patsos moved into third-place all time at Loyola in victories, trailing only Lefty Reitz (349 wins, 1937-44, 1945-61) and Nap Doherty (165, 1961-74).

Loyola All-Time Coaching Wins List
1.	349	Lefty Reitz	1937-1944, 1945-1961
2.	165	Nap Doherty	1961-1974
3.	128	Jimmy Patsos	2004-present
4.	85	Mark Amatucci	1982-1989
5.	72	Gary Dicovitsky	1976-1981

 

 

Baltimore Bred And More From Nearby

Since taking over as head coach in 2004, Jimmy Patsos has put an emphasis on recruiting locally, and it has never shown as much as on this year’s roster. Four players – junior guard Dylon Cormier (Cardinal Gibbons), junior forward Jordan Latham (City) and sophomore guard R.J. Williams and freshman forward Josh Forney (St. Frances) are products of schools within the city limits.

Six more players played in high school within 50 miles of Loyola, as the crow flies (thanks daftlogic.com): Jarred Jones, John Carroll, 20.5; Tyler Hubbard, Montrose Christian, 32.6 miles; Robert Olson, Georgetown Prep, 33.9; Anthony Winbush, T.C. Williams, 43.7; and Erik Etherly, Annandale, 47.9.

 

What’s Next

Loyola opens the month of December with a game in the Sunshine State on Saturday, December 1. The Greyhounds travel to Fort Myers, Fla., to take on Florida Gulf Coast Unviersity at 7:05 p.m.

NORFOLK, Va. – Coppin State freshman Patrick Cole was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week, while junior teammate Michael Murray was named the MEAC Defensive Player of the Week the league announced on Monday.

Cole earned his second MEAC Rookie of the Week honor after scoring 21 points in the Eagles 98-78 victory over Cheyney on Saturday. He was 6-of-10 from the floor, which included making 2-of-3 three-point attempts, and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. He also added three assists and a steal.

Murray earned his first Defensive Player of the Week award after posting 14 points and grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds against Cheyney. He also had two assists and a steal and reached double figures in rebounding for the fourth consecutive game.

Adrien Coleman of Bethune-Cookman was named the MEAC Player of the Week.

Coppin State returns to action on Wednesday as it hosts Loyola at 7:30 p.m. in the Physical Education Complex.