Box Score Jalen Gray's 19 points and late-game heroics led Loyola to a 70-69 win on the road
The Loyola Wolf Pack men's basketball team came into Thursday night's matchup against the Spring Hill College Badgers fresh off a high-scoring 78-76 victory over Xavier University on Tuesday.
The team was led by a season-high 19 points, and some late game heroics, from Jalen Gray to give the Wolf Pack the 70-69 edge over NCAA Division II Spring Hill on Thursday night to improve to 4-2 on the year.
Loyola opened the first half with a slam dunk by Johnny Griffin Jr. off of a backdoor pass by Nick Parker to give his squad the early lead, 4-2.
Spring Hill responded with a 14-4 run to bring the score to 16-8 with 11:36 remaining in the half. A short jumper in the middle of the paint by Gray cut the lead to two, 20-18, at the 6:37 mark of the first half. The Badgers would increase the lead once again, bringing the score to 26-20 after a layup by Jared Holland at the 4:20 mark.
It was the Wolf Pack who would carry the momentum into the second half, going on a 10-5 run capped off by a baseline three pointer by Ethan Turner. Both teams went into the locker room with Spring Hill holding a 31-30 lead over Loyola.
Gray led the Pack in the first half with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-4 shooting at the foul line.
Both teams came out firing to start the second half. A three-pointer by Turner tied the game at 33. Loyola would take the lead, 38-37, until six straight points by the Badgers put them back on top, 43-38, with 15:51 left on the game clock.
The Wolf Pack would cut the lead to one, 43-42, until a pair of three-pointers by Chase Shellman and Jack Morrissey pushed the lead to seven at 49-42.
The Badgers led for most of the second half until the final seconds of regulation. Gray weaved his way through a series of Spring Hill defenders for a layup with 3.1 seconds left in the game to give Loyola the lead, 70-69.
On the ensuing play, Spring Hill would inbound the ball only to have the pass picked off by Turner, sealing the game and the victory for Loyola.The team shot 44.4 percent from the field (24-of-54) and 7-of-17 (41.2%) from beyond the arc. The team lost the battle on the glass 27 to 40 in favor of the Badgers, but were plus four in points from the free-throw line (15-of-17).
Gray led the team with 19 points and dished out three assists in the win. Turner added 11 points, including 3-of-6 shooting from the three-point line. Griffin Jr. had a quiet evening with only four points and five boards in the game.
Badgers guard Morrissey led all scorers with 20 points, along with 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc.
The team will head home to First NBC Court for a Saturday afternoon rematch against Selma University. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.
