Loyola University Maryland men's lacrosse built a 4-1 lead early in Wednesday's second quarter, and while the game tightened over the middle 50 percent, the Greyhounds never allowed Towson University to tie the score or lead during a 12-8 non-conference victory at Ridley Athletic Complex. The Tigers got within one on six occasions during the second, third and fourth quarters, but each time, Loyola (3-1 overall) had a scoring answer to keep the visitors at bay. The Greyhounds then scored the game's last three goals to provide a final cushion. Pat Spencer led all players with seven points with game-highs of four goals and three assists, while Kevin Lindley tallied a career-best three goals for the Greyhounds. Jay Drapeau and Aidan Olmstead each had two goals and an assist, and John Duffy produced a goal and an assist. In the third quarter, Spencer scored a goal to move into sole possession of third-place in career points at Loyola in only his 38th career game. He finished the game with 190 career points, two away from tying Pat Lamon (1983-86) for second. Lindley tallied two goals in the game's first six minutes with a pair coming 17 seconds apart. His first came as Peter Swindell initially lost the handle on the ball before corralling it on the endline and shoveling a pass to Jay Drapeau who found Lindley wheeling behind the crease by himself. Lindley ran topside on the left and scored to the far post at 9:45 for the game's first goal. He then tallied a second after Mike Orefice won the faceoff and got the ball to Spencer at the top of the box. Spencer's sidearm pass to Lindley on the right side led Lindley past a defender and to the crease where he delivered his second goal. Towson (1-3) got back within one at 7:56 as Jon Mazza threw a pass from behind to Timmy Monahan up top, and Monahan scored the first of his three goals to put the Tigers on the board. Spencer had an answer more than four minutes later as he lowered his shoulder into a defender as he came from behind, created space by stepping away to rip a hard, high shot for his first goal of the day at 3:40. Loyola carried a 3-1 lead into the second, and Olmstead used a quick restart behind the cage to race past defenders and score at 14:18, making it a three-goal game. Grant Maloof, however, scored on a sidearm sling from the right at 12:42, and Towson would be within two until the fourth quarter. Monahan tallied an unassisted goal at 8:47, bringing the Tigers within one, 4-3. The Greyhounds went on extra-man minutes later after a slash call against Towson, but the Tigers picked up a ground ball after a Loyola shot hit the post. Towson could not clear the ball, however, and Olmstead grabbed a loose ball near midfield. He sent a long pass to Drapeau who made a defender miss and scored man-up at 4:46 to push the lead back to two. That advantage would not last until halftime, however, as Monahan scored off a Jean-Luc Chetner assist at 1:19, pulling Towson within one, 5-4, where the score would stand at halftime. Towson opened the third quarter with possession, but Jacob Stover made one of his seven saves, and Loyola cleared to run six-on-six offense. John Duffy used a pick near the top of the box to separate from his defender, and he delivered a hard shot to score from 12 yards out on the left. The teams traded goals for the rest of the third quarter as Brendan Sunday scored for the Tigers at 9:48, and Spencer again scored unassisted for Loyola at 4:15. Towson made it 7-6 Greyhounds with 1:34 to go in the period as Chetner split a double to shoot while falling and score just under the cross bar. Neither Loyola, nor Towson, scored in the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter, but the Greyhounds got on the board first in the stanza. Duffy drew a slide near goal-line on the left, and he immediately threw a pass to Spencer behind the crease. Spencer drove topside on the right to tally his third at 6:55, making it a two-goal game once again. Sunday responded for the Tigers just 55 seconds later as he got through a slide to score and bring Towson within one. Ryan McNulty picked up the ground ball for Loyola off the faceoff win by Bailey Savio, and Olmstead took the ball behind the cage after the offense settled. He speed dodged past two defenders to score at 5:25, giving Loyola a 9-7 advantage. Again, the Tigers had a quick response, scoring the game's third goal in 52 seconds as Chetner raced out of the box following a faceoff win by Towson, and Monahan found him on the right side for a goal at 5:08. After Savio won the ensuing faceoff only to have his shot saved by Towson's Shane Brennan, the Tigers cleared the ball to their offensive end. Chetner mishandled a pass, however, and Loyola was back on offense with less than 4:30 to play in regulation. Spencer used a big-little below goal-line to draw space, and he hit Lindley coming down the left side. Lindley converted a lefty shot for a goal at 3:33 to make it a two-goal Loyola lead, 10-8. Savio won another faceoff for Loyola, and the Greyhounds went man-up after a slash against the Tigers with 2:48 on the clock. Spencer threw a box-fake from behind before throwing to Drapeau on the left side of the crease, and his goal gave Loyola a three-goal margin for the first time since the second quarter. Towson took over possession on the ensuing faceoff, but Foster Huggins caused one of his three turnovers, and Spencer scored on an empty net as the Tigers were riding. The Greyhounds used a 20-7 advantage in the turnover battle to its advantage despite the Tigers' slim 29-28 lead in ground balls. Loyola's defense also successfully killed all four Towson extra-man opportunities in the game. Loyola returns to Patriot League action on Saturday, March 3, when it travels to Worcester, Massachusetts, to face College of the Holy Cross at 12 noon.