Box Score Wolf Pack out-shoot and rebound the Knights but come up just short
NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola University New Orleans men's basketball team traveled across town to take on Southern University New Orleans Thursday night, falling in a close game 82-76 to the Knights.
The two teams opened the matchup trading points, with five ties in the first 12 minutes of play, reaching 20-20 with just under eight minutes left in the half. Scores by Terry Smith Jr. and Cameron Dumas would put the Pack (2-2) up four before the home team inched their way back to yet another tie, at 29-all. As the half came to an end, a buzzer-beating score from Smith would put Loyola up by one, 35-34.
To open the second half, SUNO (3-3) would take a quick lead, eventually reaching double-digits before Loyola began to fight back. A pair of free throws from Myles Burns and bucket from Smith would bring the score to 72-70 in favor of the home team with 4:27 left on the clock. Trailing by the same margin at 76-74 with 1:34 left in the game, Loyola would be unable to climb out in front, eventually falling by six at SUNO, 82-76.
The Wolf Pack will return home to The Den this weekend and face another New Orleans-foe, hosting No. 23 Xavier Saturday evening at 5 p.m.
Wolf Pack Head Coach Stacy Hollowell
"Our performance tonight was a mirror image of our approach to practice this week. We have had a lot of bright moments early on this season, but we are not consistently good enough to walk into games and win. Our energy was flat for most of the game, and we got beat by a talented and more mature SUNO team."
Pack Facts
Terry Smith Jr. matched his career-high in scoring tonight, dropping 20 on 7-9 shooting.
The sophomore added 11 rebounds for his first double-double this year, and seventh of his career.
Freshman Cameron Dumas scored 17 points tonight, his highest mark in his fourth game played with the Pack.
Ethan Turner sunk a pair of three-pointers tonight and is shooting 49% from deep so far this season.
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.
