Loyola junior guard Marquis Sullivan wants to make it perfectly clear regarding his team’s chances to post one of the greatest seasons in school history.

“We have a really good team right now,” he said. “Me and Gerald [Brown], we’ve been talking about getting into the NCAA Tournament a lot. It’s on our minds.”

But for the Greyhounds to make playing in their first NCAA Tournament in 14 years a reality, Sullivan must continue to back up his words. Sullivan has emerged as one of the biggest secrets to Loyola’s success, as the 6-foot-1, 190-pound guard is the team’s second leading scorer averaging 11.6 points per game — not bad for someone who isn’t in the starting lineup.

Sullivan’s contribution comes off the bench, where he’s continued to establish himself as the top reserve in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference for the Greyhounds (17-12, 11-5 MAAC), who are two victories away this week from finishing in at least a tie for first place. Loyola, which is locked in a four-way tie atop the standings with Rider, Siena and Niagara, enters Thursday’s game at 7 p.m. against visiting Canisius (5-22, 2-14) after a 67-64 victory over UC-Davis in an O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBuster game this past Saturday at Reitz Arena. Loyola closes the regular season at Marist (15-13, 9-7) on Sunday.

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Sullivan’s play against UC-Davis (8-19) was integral is the team winning its third straight game, as he scored 14 points — none bigger than his three-pointer that broke a 60-60 tie with fewer than two minutes remaining.

“Marquis Sullivan continues to head toward being the [MAAC’s] Sixth Man of the Year,” Coach Jimmy Patsos said. “He saves us with the 14 points.”

Sullivan’s latest performance continues to prove he made the right decision to attend Loyola out of Spalding High School. When Sullivan committed to play for the Greyhounds, they were coming off a one-win season. Now, they are on the verge of earning their first berth in the NCAA Tournament since 1994.

“We were 1-27 when Marquis signed with us,” Patsos said. “That takes guts.”

If Loyola wins the regular season title, it is guaranteed — at worst — a berth in the National Invitation Tournament if it doesn’t win next month’s conference tournament to earn an automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament. For Loyola to claim the regular season title and top seed in the conference tournament, it must beat Canisius and Marist, and Niagara must lose one of its remaining games against either Siena or Canisius.

“The last breakthrough is the toughest,” Patsos said. “To get to third or fourth is not easy, but to get to first is really tough.”

But it’s also a jump Brown, who averages a team-high 18.8 points per game, is confident his team can make.

“Other than the coaches, I’m the only one that’s been to the NCAA Tournament,” said Brown, who played for Providence when the Friars qualified for the event in 2004 before transferring to Loyola. “And I just try to instill in my team [that] it’s a wonderful feeling.”

avitelli@baltimoreexaminer.com