The men's basketball team was unable Tuesday to hold on to a halftime lead, losing to Loyola 71-67.
Similar to their season opener, the Eagles dominated the competition on the court in the beginning of the game. AU took on an early lead over the Greyhounds due to strong defense and successful shooting. AU scored their first eight points 4:55 into the game while Loyola remained scoreless.
It looked promising for AU when junior Derrick Mercer hit a lay-up and a free throw at the 8:12 mark, pushing the score for the Eagles to a 17-point lead over the Greyhounds. The Eagle lead began to take a turn for the worse, however, when Loyola used outside shooting to stage a comeback. The game began to improve for the Greyhounds at the 2:42 mark when a player hit a three-point shot to pull the gap to eight points.
Shortly after, another three-pointer was made to cut the margin to 40-33 going into halftime.
As the whistle blew to start the second half, Loyola took the court by storm, looking to take the game away from the Eagles. AU lost any lead they had as the Greyhounds outscored AU in the first 10 minutes of the period, giving Loyola a five-point lead.
Despite the Greyhound gain, American managed to come back with just under a minute left of the game. Junior guard Garrison Carr nailed his fifth three-pointer of the game to close the lead of the Greyhounds to 62-61.
Loyola hit nine more three-point throws in the final minute of the game and ended any chance of an Eagle win.
With their overall record now 1-1, the Eagles play their home opener against Fairfield today.
