Loyola, MD's two leading scorers, guards Jamal Barney and Brett Harvey (photo) combined for 46 points in a 75-61 road win over Rider on Friday night.  Barney, the MAAC's leading scorer, averaging 19.2 points per game, scored 28 points.  Harvey scored 18 points.

Loyola out rebounded Rider 40-32.  Loyola Junior forward Jawaan Wright pulled down 11 rebounds for Loyola and scored four points.

Loyola is now 11-12 and 6-5 in the MAAC.  Rider is 11-9 and 6-4 in the conference.  Loyola is tied for fourth in the MAAC with Fairfield, which is Loyola's next opponent this Sunday at 2:00pm on MASN.  The game is at Fairfield.  Loyola is 4-2 on the road in conference games.

Rider's Ryan Thompson is the second leading scorer in the MAAC at 16.7 points per game, and he led his team with 13 points against Loyola.  At 6-4, Rider is now third in the conference and hosts Canisius next at 1:00pm on Sunday.  Siena is first in the MAAC at 11-0 and Niagara is second at 6-3.

This win was Loyola's sixth in a row.  Loyola seems to be peaking at the right time, during conference play.  They have excellent shooters in guards Jamal Barney, Brett Harvey, and Marquis Sullivan.  Loyola leads the MAAC in free-throw percentage at 92.1 percent.  Their weakness this year has been rebounding.  That situation seems to be improving.

The conference tournament aside, Loyola seems to be trending toward an overall and conference record of .500 or so.  The conference tournament is Mar. 5-9 in Albany, NY. 

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