Loyola 69, Tennessee State 67
Loyola-Maryland rallied from a big second-half deficit, defeating Tennessee State 69-67 in a BracketBusters game Saturday at the Gentry Center. The win gave the Greyhounds back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in school history.
Senior forward Erik Etherly scored 26 points to lead Loyola-Maryland (20-9, 11-5 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference), which handed Tennessee State its first home loss of the season. Etherly, who went into the game averaging 14.9 points, played a big role, scoring 20-plus points for the third time in four games.
The Bulldogs (16-12, 10-4 Ohio Valley Conference) were 10-0 on their home court going into the game and had lost only once at home dating back to the start of the 2011-12 season.
Tennessee State took a 49-38 lead into the locker room at the break. The Greyhounds trailed by 12 with less than 8 minutes remaining in the game, but mounted a 19-5 run to take the lead and held off the Bulldogs down the stretch.
Loyola-Maryland, which joined the Division I ranks in 1981-82, won 24 games a year ago, the first 20-win season at the Division I level.
