After both teams started slowly, Loyola’s Dan Vigus set the nets on fire in the second half, at Blakefield on Monday night, to lead the Dons to a 51-45 win in the Baltimore Catholic League/MIAA A Conference contest.
It was 11-11 at the end of the first quarter and 16-16 at the half, as both teams were as cold as the outside temperature for the first 16 minutes of play, but Vigus changed things single-handedly after the break, hitting 7-for-9 from the field and 5-for-7 from the line to propel the Dons to the victory.
Loyola had a slim one point lead after three (33-32) before Vigus poured in 14 fourth quarter numbers.
The junior sharpshooter finished with 22 on the night, with 21 coming after intermission. Dave Marsh chipped in with 10 points for the Dons.
Greg Brown led Spalding with 15, and Eric Fisher added 10.
“I struggled a little bit in the first half, but I knew I had to put that behind me and get the team back into it,” said Vigas.
Vigus attributed the big second half to the Loyola zone defense.
“We knew if we played zone we would have a chance to deny the post and get some turnovers and turn them into transition points, and I think we did that effectively in the second half.
Loyola coach Josh Davalli said that the zone was effective.
“They have some real good guys in the post in Eric Fisher and Chris Kemp and we wanted to make them shoot perimeter jump shots,” said Davalli. “Our zone was really good. We were making them shoot from the outside, and we still contested their shots.”
The Dons travel to Irvington on Tuesday night to face Mount St. Joseph, and they host Calvert Hall on Sunday.
Loyola 51, Archbishop Spalding 45
AS 11 5 16 13 – 45
LOY 11 5 17 18 – 51
AS-Fisher 10, Brown 15, Potts 9, Grey 6, J. Washington 5.
LOY-Vigus 22, Marsh 10, Cross 3, Dunn 6, Floyd 8, Moran 2.
