Sa’eed Nelson leads American over Loyola
American came into tonight’s game against Loyola trying to keep pace for second place with Boston University. The two teams played a barn burner earlier this season. American would win 93-91 in overtime.
This one would be just as competitive as Sa’eed Nelson would take over he Eagles 81-76 win. The Eagles are now tied for second place with Boston University.
Sa’eed Nelson would lead the Eagles with 22 points, five rebounds and four assists. Loyola’s Andrew Kostecka had 28 points.
American used a 10-0 run in the first half to get an early 15-7 lead. The run was spurred by their defense as they forced three turnovers during that time period.
Loyola would respond after a timeout with a run of their own cutting into the Eagles as the lead stayed within one or two possessions. The Greyhounds were able to stay close in the first half by shooting 11-12 from the free throw line.
The Eagles would go on a late run in the half led by three-pointers by Connor Nelson and Jamir Harris. It would give American their biggest lead at 36-28 lead with less than a minute left in the half.
But Loyola’s best player, Kostecka would end the half on his own personal 5-0 run cutting the American lead to 36-33 by halftime.
Coming out of haltime, Kostecka would continue his own personal run with a three point play tying the game at 36. The Greyhounds would score nine of the first 11 points of the half eventually turning what was once an eight point deficit into a four point lead.
All in all the Greyhounds would go on an 18-3 giving Loyola a 46-39 lead.
American would respond with back to back three-pointers by Stacy Beckton Jr. and Ben Lubarsky pulled the Eagles to within one. With Loyola struggling on offense, American had a chance to take the lead but they would turn the ball over. That would lead to a Santi Aldama layup. After Yilret Yiljep missed two free throws, Kenneth Jones hit a three pointer pushing Loyola’s lead back to six points.
Beckton would cap off a 6-0 American run with a jumper tying the game at 55. AU would eventually re-take the lead at 64-63 on a Yiljep layup. Jamir Harris’ three pointer would push the lead to four points.
But American just couldn’t pull away. After Harris missed a layup that would’ve given the Eagles a six point lead, Kostecka would come down and get a three point play, cutting the lead to one point.
A couple of Sa’eed Nelson baskets would get the Eagle lead back to five with 1:41 left.
Up next for American: at Bucknell (February 15th)
Quotes:
Sa’eed Nelson
(On facing Andrew Kostecka) – “I’m not going to miss it. He’s a great player. He competes throughout the whole game. I think we did a good job at the end of the game.”
(Preparation for Loyola with Santi Aldama in the lineup) – “It’s big difference. He’s 6′ 10″ and on the perimeter. We wanted to crowd his space a lot.”
(On Moving Up All-Time Scoring list) – “I’m blessed to be in this situation. At the same time it’s not my goal at all. No matter if I have zero points or five points, if we win, I’m good”.
Head Coach Mike Brennan
(On the win) – “I thought it was just an overall good team effort.”
(On the Loyola zone) – “I thought our guys did a good job. It wasn’t pretty but they were at least patient and they tried to move the ball around and got decent enough look”
