Episcopal guard John Loughlin scored a career-high 40 points Tuesday night, as the visiting Maroon rallied from a nine-point fourth quarter deficit to defeat St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes, 83-74.
The senior Washington and Lee commit was good in the first half, but blistering in the second where he scored 25 of his points. With his team down 62-53, Loughlin began the Maroon rally by finding teammate CJ Johnson open for a three-pointer. A few minutes later, Loughlin buried his seventh three of the game to cut the Saints lead to 69-68. After the hosts stretched their lead to 71-68, Loughlin hit trey number eight, tying the game at 71 and sending the visiting fans who came over from Episcopal into a frenzy.
“It was a great feeling,” Loughlin said. “Just out here playing my game and letting the game come to me, I couldn’t do it without my teammates, either. I just can’t express how grateful I am for them just looking for me and continuing to fight.”
Indeed, it wasn’t just Loughlin that helped the Maroon outscore the Saints 30-12 in the fourth quarter. After the game was tied, Johnson found fellow junior Buom Jock for a score. Then senior Charlie Jackson got a steal and went the length of the court for another basket. The shell-shocked Saints started to take some ill-advised shots, and after some Episcopal free throws the game was suddenly essentially over.
It was the second straight win for Episcopal (6-1, 13-4) over St. Stephen’s St. Agnes (5-2, 11-3) after the Saints had dominated the series between the two rivals in recent years. It also put the Maroon back into first place in the IAC, and gave them the inside track to be the top seed at their upcoming conference tournament.
When asked what the difference in this year’s Episcopal team is from years past, Loughlin raved about his team’s chemistry and culture.
“This year I think we’ve got 17 guys that have just bought into what the coaches are teaching us,” he said. “Every single one of the guys cares about his role and his contribution to the team–whether he’s playing 32 or 0 minutes. It’s the first team I’ve been on where everybody just cares so much about each other and the team.”
That has translated into success thus far for Episcopal. Jackson, a Johns Hopkins commit, added 15 points on the evening. Jock added 14 points, Johnson seven assists, and junior Will Hurst had a nice game off the bench with five points, nine rebounds.
The Saints shot 54% from the field in the first half for 46 points, but were limited to 30% shooting from the field in the second half for 28 points. Senior guard and Buffalo commit Devin Ceaser led the Saints with 21 points, while senior forward Elliott Black added 17 points.
–Chris Jollay
all stats are unofficial
| SSSA | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| WEBB | 2-4 | 1-4 | 5 | 9 | 0 | |
| SO | 2-6 | 1-2 | 6 | 3 | 2 | |
| BRENNAN | 3-7 | 0-0 | 6 | 3 | 4 | |
| BLACK | 8-10 | 1-7 | 17 | 7 | 0 | |
| CEASER | 8-23 | 3-5 | 21 | 6 | 1 | |
| Dubsky | 2-5 | 3-3 | 8 | 2 | 1 | |
| Cosby | 3-5 | 2-2 | 9 | 2 | 1 | |
| Barnes | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Murphy | 0-1 | 2-3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Wilson | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Argabright | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 28-65 | 13-28 | 74 | 37 | 12 | |
| Threes: Ceaser 2-11, So 1-2, Cosby 1-2, Dubsky 1-3, Argabright 0-1, Webb 0-1, Brennan 0-2 | ||||||
| EPISCOPAL | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| JOCK | 6-12 | 1-2 | 14 | 5 | 2 | |
| LOUGHLIN | 11-18 | 10-13 | 40 | 4 | 3 | |
| JACKSON | 4-12 | 5-6 | 15 | 5 | 0 | |
| STUTE | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| CJ JOHNSON | 2-6 | 1-3 | 6 | 4 | 7 | |
| Anderson | 1-4 | 1-2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | |
| Hurst | 2-5 | 1-4 | 5 | 9 | 2 | |
| T.Johnson | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| McElroy | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 26-57 | 19-30 | 83 | 32 | 15 | |
| Threes: Loughlin 8-14, Jackson 2-4, CJ Johnson 1-3, Jock 1-4, Anderson 0-2, Hurst 0-3 | ||||||