The Loyola men?s basketball won?t see Niagara and senior guard Charron Fisher unless the teams meet in next month?s Metro Atlantic Athletic Association Conference Tournament ? and that?s just fine by the Greyhounds.
Fisher made history on Sunday evening at Reitz Area. He scored a conference record-tying 45 points to lead his team to a 92-87 victory in front of 1,825 fans, as the Purple Eagles defeated the Greyhounds for the second time in less than a week.
“We lost [to Niagara] twice and I?m paid to win games,” Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos said. “We had a guy who had 45 points against us so I have to figure out what we are doing different.”
Loyola (14-12, 9-5) lost to Niagara (15-8, 9-5), 83-79, on Tuesday night in Lewiston, N.Y., when Fisher, the nation?s leading scorer at 26.8 points per game, netted 31 points. He nearly had that in the first half against the Greyhounds on Sunday, and finished his stellar performance by shooting 15-of-27 from the field, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc, to go along with making 11-of-17 at the free-throw line to prevent Loyola from moving to within a game of first-place Rider (11-3, 18-7).
The Greyhounds and Purple Eagles traded baskets for the first five minutes of the game, but Niagara slowly built a 10 point lead on the strength of Fisher?s 25 first-half points. Loyola trailed just 35-33 with 5:57 left after a three-pointer by Marquis Sullivan, but Niagara scored 20 of the final 30 first half points to take a 55-43 lead into intermission.
Loyola shot 46 percent from the floor, but that didn?t come close to Niagara, the defending conference tournament champion, which made a staggering 54.5 percent of its shots.
“We started the game a little flat,” Loyola senior guard Gerald Brown, who scored a team-high 29 points, said. “I felt like a few of us didn?t play as hard as they were going to play.”
The Greyhounds started the second half on a 16-3 run, taking the lead, 59-58, with 15:42 remaining after a layup by forward Michael Tuck. A three-pointer by Niagara guard Stanley Hodge, however, knotted the score at 64-64 a little more than two minutes later. Niagara used the momentum to build up an eight point advantage, but three free throws by guard Brett Harvey tied the game at 81-81 with 3:07 remaining.
But the Purple Eagles scored 11 of the game?s final 17 points and the Greyhounds made just 2-of-8 shots from the floor in the final three minutes.
“I came here to reach a MAAC championship,” Patsos said. “It?s a bad week in that regard. Niagara is a team who?s been there and we have to learn from that.”
