In the state of Maryland, sports have been on the rise and athletes playing in this state or from this state have been on the rise as well: not only on the high school level but on the next levels as well. In the Olympics the state of Maryland had 18 gold medals more than all but four countries. Also in at the college level in Maryland with colleges such as University of Maryland; Loyola, Towson, and University of Maryland Baltimore County.
During the winter the sport of basketball takes control over all other sports in Maryland man colleges. It is the second most popular college sport according to sporteology.com. The state of Maryland has eight division one college basketball teams, four of the major ones include, UMBC, Loyola, Towson, and UMD, are those major Maryland colleges.
The University of Maryland is the biggest college in the state of Maryland with an attendance of 38,140 students and the Xfinity Center host their basketball games with a capacity of 17,950 people for Maryland’s home basketball games. “I have season tickets to all their basketball games,” said sophomore Mason Viener.
Maryland is currently 20-3, ranked second in their Big Ten conference, and 21st in the country. They have had a solid season so far, only suffering three losses to Pittsburg, Nebraska and the most recent to Purdue. Also many great wins over Georgetown 76-75, Indiana 75-72; Oklahoma state 71-70 and Ohio State 77-71.
Towson University is another division one school in Maryland that has students from this school who went to college there. It is a smaller basketball program in Maryland that is 15-10, third in the Colonial Atlantic Association (CAA) led by junior Mike Morsell with 13.7 ppg from Fort Washington, Maryland. Towson has had wins over some of its local opponents including, Morgan State 78-72, Loyola 70-53, UMBC 73-72 and a loss to Maryland 71-66.
The Loyola Greyhounds have had a solid season at 13-10, fourth in the Patriot League led by leading scorer Andre Walker averaging 15.3 points per game. He led the Greyhounds over difficult teams such as Binghamton, Lehigh and Stony Brook. While losing to teams Creighton 82-52 ranked 12th in the nation; Lafayette 78-69 and Navy 75-62. This team has taken a tough turn out of being one of the better ranked teams last year and also losing a lot of its fans. “I am no longer a fan of the Greyhounds. They have not had a good year so far,” sophomore Ben Stoller said.
The UMBC Retrievers have been having a successful year so far with a 16-7 record, third in the American East Conference (AEC). They have been able to achieve many wins with leading scorer Jairus Lyles averaging 20 points per game beating James Madison, Kennesaw State and Maine, when losing to some of the tougher programs such as Virginia Tech; Navy and Vermont.
Jonnie Voyta
Staff Writer
