UNCASVILLE, Conn. – No one who saw the opening minutes of the Springfield Bracket championship game would be surprised if you told them Loyola (Md.) won. But they might be surprised if you added that they needed a game-winning basket in the final seconds to do it. Loyola almost let it get away, but they got a three-point play with 1.5 seconds left to pull out a 67-64 win over road-weary Albany.
“Dylon Cormier is just a tough dude making plays,” said head coach Jimmy Patsos in reference to the winning basket. “That wasn’t anything we drew up.”
Indeed, the end result couldn’t have been that. A long downcourt pass was intended for Erik Etherly, but it sailed over his head – and right into Cormier’s hands. He then turned around and went up, made the shot as he got fouled, and suddenly the emotions reversed from just seconds earlier when Albany had fought all the way back to tie it at 64.
Said Etherly: “It’s big. It’s an emotional low at one end and an emotional high at the other.”
Loyola ran out to leads of 18-5 and 28-10 in the first half, the latter near the halfway point. It looked like they might run away with it. But Albany started to control the tempo and slowly rallied, eventually tying it in the final seconds to set up the final drama.
Loyola has been picked by many as the favorite in the MAAC this season, and understandably so. They return four starters from the team that won the conference last season, including the preseason Player of the Year in Etherly and the unquestioned leader in Cormier. Cormier was a captain last season, and Patsos said “he was practically a captain as a freshman.” Only three lettermen are gone from last season, so a lot of that team is back together.
The maturity one would expect of such a veteran team showed in the last play. After leading for the entire game, the opponent tying the game can be a psychological blow. But they didn’t let that happen in coming right back to get the winning basket.
“We just brought it in and had confidence that we were going to win,” said Etherly.
Etherly is a common story in the MAAC – a transfer who found a better situation. As a freshman at Northeastern, he struggled to get off the bench, and that was despite a gaping hole at small forward. He didn’t fit their style of play well, but at Loyola he fits right in. Since transferring, he has started almost every game for the Greyhounds and was the MAAC Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. This weekend, he was the MVP of the Springfield Bracket.
“The fit here is much better,” said the senior wing. “They play a much more high-paced offense here, and that works out a lot better for the style of play that I like.”
Etherly is also closer to his home in northern Virginia, and that has also helped. He said he probably saw his mother once during his year at Northeastern, but now can get home more often. There’s a lot to be said for a player being more comfortable, and that’s been the case both on and off the court. It’s reflected in the end result, which could be an even bigger year this season.
The Greyhounds’ non-conference schedule isn’t as challenging as one might want to see for a team picked to win their conference. Their only loss thus far is at Washington, and while they have road games at Rhode Island and Memphis as well as a BracketBusters game, for the most part the schedule doesn’t have too many obvious land mines. They host Patriot League favorite Bucknell after Christmas in what is clearly their toughest home game. In other words, they aren’t likely to be in the discussion for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The lack of RPI pop in the non-conference schedule isn’t so bad, though. While Iona got an at-large bid last season, that rarely happens from the MAAC as it is usually a one-bid league. This season probably won’t be any different, and this team knows the clear path to the NCAA Tournament as they won the conference tournament last year.
Patsos noted that last year, the Greyhounds flew into Hartford to get to Springfield for the MAAC Tournament, and they did it again this time around before taking home an in-season championship. With this veteran group, they hope they can keep that trend going in just a few months since the MAAC Tournament returns to Springfield.
