Loyola lost for the 11th time in 13 games yesterday, although with a national television audience watching on ESPN2, the Greyhounds showed plenty of spunk against visiting Canisius.
After trailing by 16 points midway through the second half against one of the best teams in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Loyola, behind a pesky defense and the continuing resurgence of senior forward B. J. Pendleton, rallied to cut Canisius' lead to one before fading in the final minute.
Senior forward Craig Wise rescued the faltering Golden Griffins. Wise scored eight of his game-high 23 points during the last two minutes, including six on perfect free-throw shooting in the final 65 seconds, as Canisius broke a three-game losing streak by defeating Loyola, 63-55, before 1,575.
Canisius (13-10, 6-3) maintained its hold on third place in the MAAC. But the Golden Griffins had to sweat out an admirable comeback by the Greyhounds (6-15, 2-7), who are stuck in seventh place in the MAAC but didn't play that way in the first nationally televised game at Reitz Arena.
The Greyhounds were fresh off a similar loss to first-place Manhattan, which nearly blew a 20-point, second-half lead before stopping Loyola.
"Teams are going to have to respect us at tournament time. We're not out of it, by far," said Greyhounds senior center David Credle, looking ahead to next month's MAAC tournament in Albany, N.Y. "But we're not accepting any moral victories. We want wins."
Along with Pendleton, Credle, who scored all 12 of his points in the second half, nearly dragged the Greyhounds to an unlikely victory.
After both teams struggled with shooting in the first half, Canisius opened the second half with a 13-2 burst to take a 40-24 lead with 15:34 left. With Pendleton and Credle basically trading baskets with the Golden Griffins after that sequence, Canisius held a 52-36 lead at the 9:36 mark.
But, just as quickly as the Greyhounds appeared out of it, they stormed back. Loyola scored 12 unanswered points over the next three minutes, a run that ended with Credle's two free throws to cut the lead to 52-48 with 6:42 to go.
While Canisius stumbled, scoring four points in 8:17, Loyola pressed on. A baseline hook shot by Pendleton -- who scored a team-high 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds -- pulled Loyola to 54-53 with 2:05 left. Wise then broke a five-minute scoreless drought for the Golden Griffins with a turnaround jumper to give Canisius a 56-53 lead with 1:31 left.
