BALTIMORE, Md. - A career evening for Andrew Phillips powered men's basketball to an 80-59 road victory over Loyola Maryland on Wednesday evening in Reitz Arena.

The Chester Springs, Pa. native cruised to a career-high 27 points, totaling 10 field goals, five 3-pointers and nine rebounds. Lafayette shot 57 percent overall from the floor and netted 12 long-distance shots.

Freshman duo Alex Chaikin (19) and Caleb Williams (11) continued to assist the Leopard offense, also finishing in double figures. Justin Vander Baan crept closer to second all-time in blocks on College Hill, swatting away four shots.

Chaikin and Phillips pushed Lafayette out to a 14-9 advantage through the first five minutes of play, knocking down 3-of-4 beyond the arc.

The Leopards kept on top, 27-22 at 7:11, using 5-of-7 from the charity stripe and a 3-pointer each by Ryan Pettit and Luka Savicevic.

Phillips dropped in back-to-back long-range shots, to extend the lead to 13, 35-22 at the four-minute mark, and surpass his career high in points (previously 18) for the second contest in a row.

The Leopards held the advantage going into the locker room. On the final play of the first half, Phillips threw a full-court rocket to Vander Baan, who battled for the grab and secured a buzzer-beating dunk, 45-33.

Loyola was not discouraged as the Greyhounds put up a 10-4 run to open the second period and close the gap to six, 49-43 by 16:23.

Phillips added seven more points in an 11-0 stretch to propel Lafayette ahead once more, 60-43 at the 11-minute mark as the Leopards maintained control of the game. 

Seventy-five percent shooting from the floor on eight attempts thereafter saw the Maroon and White hold a game-high 27-point lead at 6:58, 72-45.

The hosts shot 34.9 percent on 63 attempts from the floor and were held to just three 3-pointers. Ilic was the lone Greyhound in double figures with 16 points, shooting 8-for-20 from the field.

Lafayette out-rebounded Loyola 35-32, despite losing the 15-8 margin on the offensive glass. 

Next up, the Leopards traverse the valley towards Lehigh on Saturday for a 7 p.m. Rivalry tip-off in Stabler Arena.


For the latest on the Lafayette College men's basketball program, follow the Leopards on Twitter @LafayetteMBB and Instagram @lafayettembb.