BALTIMORE - For the fourth straight game, a win eluded the AU men's basketball team Tuesday, as the Eagles failed to overcome a 20-point halftime deficit at Loyola (Md.) to fall, 68-60.
Junior guard Linas Lekavicius led AU (0-4) with a season high 14 points, and freshman Derrick Mercer added 12.
AU started sluggishly, falling behind 9-0 two minutes in. A second Loyola run put the Eagles down by as many as 23.
AU regrouped in the second half, sparked by 10 points from Lekavicius in a 19-2 run during a four-minute stretch.
Lekavicius repeatedly attacked the basket, spinning around defenders and scoring all of his baskets in the paint.
"I saw there was a miss-match, that my defender was a lot bigger than me, so I tried to drive it and make something happen," Lekavicius said.
Mercer hit a three-pointer with 3:30 remaining to pull AU within one point. But on the next possession Mercer picked up a reach-in foul near the three-point line that put Loyola in the bonus. They would shoot 5-of-6 from the line to close the game, as AU failed to take the lead.
The Eagles' final hope faded when, with 57 seconds remaining and down four, junior forward Brayden Billbe lost control of an entry pass turning the ball over.
"Whatever transpired in the second half doesn't erase the fact that we were an embarrassment in the first half," head coach Jeff Jones said.
Loyola (3-0) forced 11 first-half turnovers and often found easy baskets in transition.
At the 32-minute mark, Greyhound guard Freddie Stanback beat AU junior Arvydas Eitutavicius down the court after a steal and lob-pass for an uncontested lay-up.
"We need to compete better, and we need to do it for 40 minutes," Jones said of that and other defensive lapses. "Until we learn that lesson, we are going to keep feeling like this."
From the beginning, Loyola controlled the tempo with defensive pressure and productive half court sets. Just 40 seconds in, Greyhound forward Michael Tuck received an entry pass for an uncontested turnaround post shot. On Loyola's next possession they completed a successful back door lob for Tuck that sent a packed student section into a craze.
On Saturday, AU traveled to Philadelphia, where the Eagles competed throughout, but fell behind late for a 75-63 loss to La Salle (3-0).
Potential All-American Steven Smith scored 19 of his 31 points for La Salle in the second half to bury the Eagles, despite AU taking a 36-34 lead into halftime. To start the second half, La Salle switched to a smaller line-up to combat AU's quickness.
"Their guards outside of Andre Ingram were small, so our smaller line-up matched up better to guard the perimeter," La Salle head coach John Giannini said.
AU countered with inside-out ball movement to Billbe for seven second-half points, part of 13 total.
With five minutes remaining, AU started making crucial mistakes in transition, beginning when Mercer found himself trapped between two La Salle defenders. Guard Jermaine Thomas and Smith stripped the ball loose near mid-court, Thomas dished to Smith, who ran the floor for the bucket and the foul.
It would be one of many thunderous transition conversions for the powerful forward down the stretch.
"Smith was easily the best player we faced last year," Jones said. "He does a great job of being aggressive, but at the same time letting the game come to him."
AU led at the half by shooting 50 percent from the 3-point line.
Freshman guard Garrison Carr notched nine first-half points, going 3 of 4 from behind the arc en route to 13 points on the day.
