Box Score Jalen Gray (SR/New Orleans, La.) sinks his second game-winning shot of the season as the Wolf Pack survive the Rams in a gritty matchup.
The (RV) Loyola University New Orleans men's basketball team continued their Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) road trip with a matchup against the University of Mobile on Thursday night.
Loyola entered Thursday's game hoping to put a 73-59 loss against Faulkner on Saturday in the rear view and looked to move up in its respective conference standings with a big win.
The Wolf Pack overcame a rugged start in the first half and used Jalen Gray's second game winner of the season to narrowly escape the Pharr Gymnasium with a 64-62 victory.
The Wolf Pack improves to 11-4 and 4-2 in conference matchups.
The Wolf Pack came out of the gates struggling from the field. The men's squad only managed six points in the first 8 minutes of the first half.
Conversely, the Rams could do no wrong on the offensive end in the opening minutes. The home team shot 8-of-8 from the floor to start the contest.
Loyola trailed by as many as 17 (7-24) in the opening half until a 6-0 run by the Wolf Pack cut the deficit to 13 (26-13) with 5:36 remaining in the first half. The men's squad continued to chip away at the lead as a three pointer by Trey LaForge (FR/New Orleans, La.) off the feed from Johnny Griffin Jr. brought the score to 26-22 at the 2:28 mark of the opening period.
A three pointer by Mobile's DJ Hill put the home team back up by seven (31-24) in the waning moments of the first frame.
With only :11 seconds remaining until intermission, Gray dumped a pass down low to Griffin Jr. who finished the layup plus the foul.
The free throw brought the deficit to five and the Wolf Pack headed into the locker room with the score at 32-27.
Loyola's defense kicked in after the first eight minutes of the first frame, forcing the Rams to shoot just 2-of-16 after the 8-of-8 start.
The Wolf Pack also outrebounded the Rams in the first half, 24-16, but shot just 37% (12-of-32) from the floor and 2-of-10 from the charity stripe.
Loyola opened the second half with an 8-3 run to tie the ballgame at 35-35 at the 17:25 mark. The Wolf Pack took its first lead of the night on a layup by Griffin Jr. to bring the score to 37-35 with 14:46 on the clock.
Tre'Von Jasmine (SO/Edgard, La.) gave his team their largest lead of the night, knocking down a jumper to bring the score at 40-35 over the next 60 seconds.
Loyola held a two-point lead in the final moments of the ballgame. Two free throws by Hill tied the game at 62-62 with just five seconds to go in the contest.
On the ensuing possession, Gray weaved his way into the teeth of the Rams' defense and sank the layup as time expired to give his team the edge 64-62.
The Wolf Pack shot 27-of-62 (43.5%) from the floor and won the battle on the glass 45-31 over Mobile. Defense was the big story for Loyola as they forced the Rams to shoot just 18-of-46 (39.1%) from the field and only 2-of-13 (15.4%) from beyond the arc.
Griffin Jr. led the way for his team, recording 19 points and 17 rebounds. Gray added 10 points to go along with his game-winning field goal in the final seconds.
Hill led Mobile with 23 points in the losing effort.
The next stop for the Wolf Pack will be McKenzie, Tenn. to take on rival Bethel University on Jan. 14. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. on Saturday.
