Loyola-Maryland holds off American 72-69

Updated: Feb 7, 2018, 09:49 pm

BALTIMORE -- Isaiah Hart and Brent Holcombe scored 17 points each and Loyola-Maryland defeated American 72-69 on Wednesday night.

American (5-19, 2-11 Patriot) trailed by nine with two minutes left but used an 8-0 surge, including 3-pointers from Stacy Beckton and Cheikh Diallo, to get within 70-69 but Cam Gregory's bucket for the Greyhounds (8-16, 6-7) with 23 seconds left provided the final points.

Holcombe added a game-high nine rebounds to go with his career-high points. Chuck Champion and Andre Walker added 12 points each and Gregory 10 for the Greyhounds, who shot 54 percent and outrebounded the Eagles 34-23. Loyola snapped a two-game losing streak and split the season series.

Sa'eed Nelson scored a career-high 31 points and Beckton 11 to lead American, which lost its sixth straight.

Loyola never trailed and took the lead for good five minutes into the game and had a 12-point advantage with 8:51 remaining.