Off the basketball court, Marquis Sullivan is a soft-spoken college freshman. When he puts on his jersey and takes the floor for Loyola, though, the Archbishop Spalding alum starts to make some noise.
The 6-foot-1 guard has been the offensive safety valve for Loyola (13-8) all season. Whenever the team?s leading scorer, Gerald Brown (22.5 points a game) gets double-teamed or starts slowly, Sullivan has picked up the slack.
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“That is what we need,” Brown said. “Being a good team is not always about the man who scores the most. Marquis has been doing that all season.”
Sullivan is averaging 13.2 a game and shooting nearly 46 percent from the floor and 43 percent from three-point range for Loyola, which travel to Marist (15-7) Saturday.
“When we needed threes, he hit them,” Brown said.
In the Greyhounds? last game, a 72-71 home win over Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference rival Siena on Monday, Sullivan kept Loyola in the game with five three-pointers in the first half.
“We all just started off really sluggish,” Sullivan said. “They were doubling Gerald and they went to zone, and that is my game right there. just stepped back and shot them out of it. I just knew that somebody had to step up and score.”
Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos appreciated Sullivan?s effort Monday.
“He kept us in that first half,” Patsos said. “If it was not for Marquis, we would have been out of it by halftime.”
Sullivan excels when he is pressured to score by an opposing team.
“Marquis likes it when the other team goes on a run, and he likes to be the guy to break that run,” Patsos said. “Other teams are ready to pull away and then Marquis hits a big three.”
The soft-spoken Westminster native is thriving in his role with the Greyhounds and might take some defensive attention away from Brown in the upcoming MAAC tournament.
“Most of the time, we are looking for Gerald to score,” Sullivan said. “When he is scoringa lot, he is getting double-teamed. Then it is my time to step up and hit shots for my team.”
SULLIVAN NOTES
» Against Sienna, Loyola guard Marquis Sullivan had a career-high six three-pointers.
» Before this season, his single-game scoring high was 18. He set a new high against Mount St. Mary?s (22) and broke 20 against UMBC (21) and Siena (20).
