For a pair of teams that finished last season with a combined record of 8-46, last night's Battle of Baltimore represented a new beginning.

In the tournament's opening-round nightcap, however, it was the hot shooting of Loyola's Lucious Jordan and Bernard Allen that spelled the end for host Morgan State.

The flashy sophomores scored 21 and 15 points, respectively, helping the Greyhounds shoot 58 percent in the second half in an 83-80 win.

"You've got to give them credit for executing," Bears coach Butch Beard said of Loyola. "I didn't think that we played very smart. We missed too many free throws and didn't execute down the stretch."

Still, the game remained in doubt until the final seconds. Jordan missed a pair of foul shots with 1.6 seconds left, but the rebound bounced to the side and the Bears couldn't get off a shot before the buzzer.

The Greyhounds (1-0) advance to tomorrow's 7 p.m. championship game against UMBC, an 86-81 winner over Towson in the opener. Host Morgan (0-1) will play Towson in the 4 p.m. consolation.

Jordan hit eight of his 12 shots from the field, and Allen made six of nine for the Greyhounds, who are trying to take a step up from last season's 5-23 record.

Greyhounds coach Scott Hicks was unavailable for comment after the game.

In a game in which referees weren't shy about calling fouls, with Morgan getting whistled for 19 in the first half alone, Loyola gained control of the game at the foul line, outscoring the Bears, 11-1, in the final 5:30 of the half to take a 45-35 lead.

Relying mainly on the perimeter shooting of Randy Dukes (17 points) and the short-range game of forward Douglas Sims(15 points on 7-for-8 shooting), the Bears pulled to within a point, 70-69, on Dukes' off-balance jumper with 3:03 left.

Morgan also hurt its own chances by making just 15 of 28 foul shots.

"We had some positives and we'll be able to build on this," Beard said. "I'm just wondering how we're going to come back and compete against Towson."

Morgan looked shaky in the early going, turning the ball over on each of its first three possessions and committing five fouls in the first three minutes.

The Greyhounds took advantage, hitting nine of their first 16 shots, including a tip-in by junior Lindbergh Chatman that put Loyola up, 21-12, with 11:22 to play in the half.

LOYOLA- Chatman 1-3 2-4 4, Jordan 8-12 5-10 21, Bell 3-13 6-8 12, Thomas 2-2 3-10 7, Allen 6-9 2-2 15, Koch 0-0 0-0 0, Bossman 2-5 0-1 5, Dickey 0-0 0-1 0, Hinds 3-3 1-2 7, Nijaradze 3-6 4-6 10, Southall 1-1 0-0 2, Chivers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-54 23-44 83. MORGAN ST.- Barrow 1-2 0-0 2, Timus 4-11 3-7 11, Sims 7-8 1-4 15, Snipes 0-2 0-0 0, Grandy 0-2 0-0 0, Williams 2-5 0-1 5, Davis 4-4 0-0 11, Dukes 4-9 8-11 Pellerin 5-7 0-0 10, Patrick 2-7 2-3 6, Fisher 0-0 0-0 0, Contes 1-1 0-0 2, Kilpatrick 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 30-59 15-28 80. Halftime-Loyola, 45-35. 3-Point goals-Loyola 2-10 (Allen 1-2, Bossman 1-3, Chatman 0-2, Jordan 0-2, Bell 0-1), Morgan St. 5-13 (Davis 3-3, Dukes 1-2, Williams 1-3, Timus 0-2, Snipes 0-2, Grandy 0-1). Fouled out-Nijaradze, Sims. Rebounds- Loyola 35 (Allen 10), Morgan St. 38 (Pellerin 7). Assists-Loyola 2 (Bell, Jordan 1), Morgan St. 6 (Barrow, Timus, Grandy, Williams, Pellerin, Patrick). Total fouls-Loyola 25, Morgan St. 32. A-3,223.