Since their first meeting in 1910, Mount St. Mary's and Loyola College have staged many heated basketball battles, particularly at their respective cozy old facilities where the front-row fans were literally on the court.
But times changed and they have not met twice in the same season since 1988-89, the year both were members of the Northeast Conference.
When the Greyhounds shifted to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and both teams moved into less intimate arenas, their rivalry became a once-a-season affair usually conducted early when the students were missing from the stands.
But, yesterday, some of the storied intensity was back at Reitz Arena.
In the 157th edition of the oldest series in Maryland, the freshman-dominated Mountaineers built a 17-point halftime lead, then had to fend off a furious Loyola counterattack to win, 58-55, before 869 spectators.
"They came back strong," said Mount coach Jim Phelan, who has matched strategies with 11 different Loyola coaches. "They never gave up, but we never panicked."
It is an age-old basketball truism that when a team throws all its resources into overcoming a huge deficit, it often reaches that goal, then fizzles.
That is exactly what happened to Loyola (2-5), which shut down the three-point shooters who guided the Mount to its huge edge, hit 48 percent of its second-half attempts and grabbed its only lead at 44-43.
"We were hoping to get an early lead to frustrate their young guards into bad shots," Greyhounds coach Scott Hicks said. "Since they play with three guards, they're hard to pressure when you're behind. But it was just the reverse. It was like two opposite halves.
"We showed the composure of a potentially good team by coming back, but I think the guards got a little tired."
At crunch time, the Mount (4-3) relied on veteran forward Pat Atangana for offense and he responded with two important baskets and two key free throws, half of his 12 points.
Lucious Jordan (game-high 20 points, eight rebounds) hit a three-pointer with 20 seconds left to bring Loyola to within 54-52 before two foul shots apiece by Jamion Christian and Kiel Butler sealed the Mount's fourth victory in five games.
Mount St. Mary's has already won more games than in all of last season when Phelan suffered through his worst record (3-24) in 49 years.
Christian likened the pattern of the second half to "a little brother playing against a great big brother. You take a bunch of blows, then you have to fight back."
The Mount is off until Dec. 30, when Navy visits Emmitsburg; Loyola comes back Sunday against touring Santa Clara.
NOTE: Loyola yesterday retired the No. 12 jersey of Kevin Green (Dunbar), the second-leading scorer in school history with 2,154 career points.
MOUNT ST. MARY'S-Atangana 5-9 2-2 12, Epps 1-4 0-0 2, Thompson 2-10 2-5 8, Sumner 2-6 0-0 6, Christian 2-6 7-8 11, Butler 2-4 2-2 7, Adasi 0-1 0-0 0, Cook 4-6 0-0 12, Rivera 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-47 13-17 58. LOYOLA-Allen 3-9 2-2 10, Nijaradze 1-2 0-0 3, Jordan 7-12 4-5 20, Bossman 2-7 5-7 11, Hinds 2-2 2-6 7, Chatman 0-1 0-0 0, Bell 0-2 0-0 0, Thomas 1-1 0-0 2, Southall 0-4 0-0 0, Chivers 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 17-42 13-20 55. Half: Mount St. Mary's, 37-20. 3-point goals-Mount St. Mary's 9-22 (Sumner 2-2, Butler 1-1, Cook 4-6, Thompson 2-7, Atangana 0-1, Adasi 0-1, Christian 0-4), Loyola 8-20 (Nijaradze 1-1, Hinds 1-1, Jordan 2-5, Bossman 2-5, Allen 2-6, Bell 0-2). Fouled out-none. Rebounds-Mount St. Mary's 30 (Epps 6), Loyola 30 (Allen 11). Assists-Mount St. Mary's 13 (Thompson 6), Loyola 8 (Hinds 4). Total fouls-Mount St. Mary's 19, Loyola 18. A-869.