Gerald Brown scored 27 points and made a career-high six steals, and Michael Tuck added 18 points to lead Loyola past visiting Penn, 89-68, yesterday in the preliminary round of the Philly Hoop Group Classic.
Loyola (1-1) raced out to a 43-26 halftime lead by forcing 14 first-half Penn (0-2) turnovers. Brown led all-scorers at the half with 19 points and had a game-high eight rebounds.
Drexel 86, Navy 70 -- Frank Elegar scored 24 points and had 14 rebounds to power the host Dragons (2-0) past the Midshipmen (1-1). Tramayne Hawthorne added 19 points for Drexel. Chris Harris had 16 for Navy. Navy struggled in shooting for most of the game, going just 11-of-36 (31 percent) in the first half.
Women
Loyola 49, Villanova 47 -- Tynisha Davis' driving layup as the shot clock expired with 53 seconds remaining broke a 44-44 tie and freshman guard Candice Walker connected on a pair of free throws with 34 seconds left as the Greyhounds (2-0) beat the visiting Wildcats (1-1).
UMBC 58, Rider 53 -- The host Retrievers (1-1) jumped out to a 14-point early lead, then watched it turn into a five-point deficit in the middle of the second half, but Chantay Frazier's three-pointer with 53 seconds left in the game sealed the win over the visiting Broncs (1-1).
Coppin State 74, Central Florida 63 -- Shalamar Oakley scored 34 points and the Eagles (1-1) overcame a 12-point second-half deficit to beat the Golden Knights (0-2) in the consolation game of the UCF Knights Classic.
North Texas 56, Navy 45 -- The Mean Green (1-2) went on a 17-4 run to start the second half en route to beating the Mids (0-3) at the Winthrop Classic. Whitney Davidson led Navy with 10 points.