Box Score Six players score in double figures for the Pack as they clinch their first home victory of the season
NEW ORLEANS – In their first home game of the season, the Loyola University New Orleans men's basketball team fought off a late run by Southern University at New Orleans to earn a 108-99 victory over the cross-town rival Sunday afternoon at The Den.
The Knights (0-2) started the game strong, taking an early 18-12 lead. The Wolf Pack (1-1) responded with an 8-0 run to take a 20-18 lead. SUNO would tie the score twice but never gained the lead for the remainder of the half. Loyola would take a 49-42 lead into halftime after forcing the Knights into 13 first-half turnovers.
The Pack stayed consistent in the second half, never letting the home lead drop below four points. Loyola held its largest lead of the day at 99-88 with three minutes left in regulation. SUNO responded with a run to pull within five points at 103-98, but the Pack held off the comeback attempt to claim the 108-99 home win.
Up next on the schedule for the Pack is the Battle of Freret at Devlin Fieldhouse, as they'll take on the Tulane Green Wave in the annual matchup with an exhibition on Thursday, November 1st at 7 p.m.
Wolf Pack Head Coach Stacy Hollowell
"It's good to get our first win of the season. We got out and pushed the pace better tonight compared to our game on Thursday with Dillard, which showed up in the box score with our 108 points. We have to do a better job defensively recognizing shooters, but it's early and we had not seen a whole lot of film on this team. Number 23 for SUNO, Collins, had five threes, Marcel Daniels, who we knew could shoot it, had three made threes. So we need to be able to address that and get out to guys better."
"This was also the second game in a row we've missed 22 free throws. Nice thing about that is that we got to the line 50 times and if we make a few more of those we get to the 75-percent area you want to be at. But suno is a great team, they're well coached and have some talented players, and we were fortunate to come away with that win."
Pack Facts
Freshman Zach Wrightsil filled the box score tonight, with a team-best 26 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals.
Fellow freshman Myles Burns hit the 20-point mark as well today, adding seven boards.
Both Wrightsil and Terry Smith Jr. narrowly missed double-doubles, with Smith scoring 13 points to go with his nine rebounds.
Ethan Turner added 16 points in tonight's win, sinking four from the three-point line.
The senior has now made 124 from beyond the arc in his career with the Pack, and is knocking on the door of the top-10 in school history.
You can keep up with the Pack this season by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.
