The math is simple for the Loyola men’s basketball team: It has four Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference matchups left and is two games behind league-leading Rider and Siena.

If the Greyhounds (14-12, 9-5) manage to catch the Broncos (18-7, 11-3) and Siena (16-8, 11-3), they will earn — at worst — an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament, assuring their first postseason berth since making the NCAA Tournament in 1994.

And with a trip to Albany, N.Y., to face Siena on Saturday afternoon at 1, Loyola could move to within one game entering what would be an enormous matchup against Rider on Monday night at Reitz Arena.

But the Greyhounds could have been even closer.

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Loyola lost to defending conference tournament champion Niagara (15-8, 9-5) twice last week — 83-79 on Tuesday night in Lewiston, N.Y., and 92-87 on Sunday afternoon at Reitz Arena. Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos said after the team’s tough loss this past weekend, learning to win big conference games is a hurdle the Greyhounds have yet to clear.

“I just went up there and talked to our team about swimming upstream,” Patsos. “What that means is when you try and get to the level of teams like Niagara and Siena and win MAAC championships. We made a nice climb to third or fourth, but it’s time to win a championship. I’m proud of our program, but I want to reach the next level.”

Loyola couldn’t contain Niagara guard Charron Fisher, the nation’s leading Division I scorer at 26.8 points per game, as the senior scored 31 in the team’s first meeting and tied a MAAC record with 45 points on Sunday. Prior to Tuesday’s game against the Purple Eagles, Loyola had won six straight on the strength of its defense, holding each opponent to 71 or fewer points.

Senior forward Michael Tuck (11.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg) also played his best basketball of the season in those wins, topping 20 points in four of the six wins.

But in the games against Niagara, Loyola’s only losses in its past nine games, Tuck had a combined 13 points and nine rebounds.

“I don’t want to point fingers,” Patsos said. “But we were playing really well when Michael Tuck was playing well, and he’s not playing as well right now.”

The Greyhounds, however, can put themselves right back into the title discussion with a pair of wins this week. Loyola lost to Rider, 81-67 in Lawrenceville, N.J., earlier last month, but beat Siena, 88-56, at Reitz Arena on Jan. 24.

“Every game is always a learning experience in the game of life you get better as each day goes on,” Loyola senior guard Gerald Brown said. “Hopefully, we learn from this game and that’s what we have been good at, bouncing back from tough emotional games.”