BALTIMORE -- Coming down to the final events of the day, the Towson University men's swimming and diving program used clutch finishes to edge Loyola University Maryland 157-143 Saturday afternoon at Mangione Pool at The Fitness and Aquatics Center.

The Tigers took first and third in the final event of the day, the 200-yard freestyle relay, to seal the Tigers' fifth-straight win over the Greyhounds. Ryan Baldino, Lyke Schwar, Brian Benzing and Michael Fazio combined to finish in 1 minute, 22.50 seconds, including a 20-second final leg from Fazio.

TJ Bearor, Trey Adkins, Evan Bota and Cody Stewaty took third-place points with a finishing time of 1:25.14 in the 200-yard freestyle, limiting Loyola's points and chance for a comeback.

How it Happened

• Another relay team, the 200-yard medley squad of Fazio, Benzing, Nick McClure and Ryan Baldino, won the opening event with a 1:31.22, edging Loyola's A team by two tenths of a second.
• Patrick Flint took second in the 1000-yard freestyle with a 9:56.57, followed by teammate Drew Munson in 9:59.24. 
• In the following event, Ryan Baldino touched in 1:40.39 in the 200-yard freestyle for the win before Bota took second in the 100-yard backstroke (51.69).
• Rookie Brian Benzing won the 100-yard breaststroke with a 54.93, the second-fastest time in that event in program history, just shy of his own mark of 54.81, set last weekend at Navy.
• McClure and Reed Sells went 1-2 in the 200-yard butterfly, with the former winning in 1:53.40 and the later in a time of 1:55.46. Fazio grabbed a second-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle (20.98) before the first intermission.
• On the 1-meter board, Towson took first and second as Ajani Dorner won with the program's third-best score of 287.40 while teammate Will Canny had the program's fourth-best score of 265.27, good enough for second place.
• After the break, Fazio returned to capture the 100-yard freestyle in 45.17, the ninth fastest in program history, followed by a second-place finish from Baldino (45.35).
• McClure won his second event of the day, taking the 100-yard butterfly by over a second, touching in 51.04, ahead of Loyola's Conor Rutigliano (52.02).
• Sells and Flint grabbed points with second and third place, respectively, in the 200-yard backstroke. Sells touched in 1:52.99 while Flint finished in 1:53.63. Noah Diacumakos finished second in the 200-yard breaststroke with a 2:05.98, half a second off first place.
• Coming in clutch down the stretch, Benzing and Flint finished second and third in the 200-yard IM, going 1:53.35 and 1:55.07, respectively, to stave off a Loyola surge.
• Canny won the 3-meter dive with a 293.70, third-best in Towson history, while Dorner's 232.05 was the ninth-best in the event, and good for a third-place finish.

Head Coach Jake Shrum

• Our guys did a great job fighting for every scoring spot throughout the meet, resulting in the competition come down to who won the last relay.
• To have a pretty young relay come through to touch first in that situation was awesome and says a lot about their maturity.

Up Next for Towson

• The Tigers return home for their lone event at Burdick Pool on Saturday, Feb. 27.
• A time has not yet been set for the meet against Mount St. Mary's and will be announced soon.