Box Score Loyola closes out their regular season with a 27-point road win behind Terry Smith Jr.'s 21 points
PULASKI, Tenn. – In the final game on their 2018-19 regular season calendar, the Loyola University New Orleans men's basketball team took down Martin Methodist on the road 82-55 Saturday night at the Curry Christian Life Center.
The RedHawks (11-17, 8-14 SSAC) scored the first five points of the contest in a quick start, but the Wolf Pack (18-11, 13-9 SSAC) were able to tie the game at 10-10 by the 13-minute mark, with Eric Brown hitting three triples in the opening minutes. The teams would stay close until just over five minutes remained in the half, when the Pack opened up a 10-0 run to take a 36-23 lead, which would be their largest of the half. Terry Smith Jr was already on the way to a big scoring day, putting up 13 points in the first half as he led Loyola to a 41-31 halftime advantage.
Smith scored again to open the half as Zach Wrightsil found him in the paint for a quick basket. The closest the RedHawks would get for the half was five points when they trailed 52-47 just before the first media timeout, but the Wolf Pack locked in for the final 12 minutes of play, outscoring the home team 30-8 over that period. Loyola ended the game on an 8-0 run which was capped off by a three-pointer and and-one from Semaj Flugence in the final minute of action.
After earning the No. 4 seed for next week's 2019 SSAC Men's Basketball Championship, the Wolf Pack now look ahead to a rematch of last season's last semifinal game when they take on fifth-seeded Dalton State on Thursday, February 28, at 10:45 a.m..
Wolf Pack Head Coach Stacy Hollowell
"I'm proud of the focus and effort our guys put into this road trip. We grew up a little this weekend and I feel like some of the things we've been talking about in practice are starting to resonate. We had to work through some foul trouble with Myles picking up his third foul late in the first half. Eric Brown shot the ball well for us tonight and made some really nice decisions, and Terry Smith put together one of his stronger recent performances. We were all excited to see Semaj Flugence score a quick six points in the closing minutes of the game as well."
Pack Facts
Terry Smith Jr. scored a game-high 21 points for Loyola on 6-12 shooting, while grabbing eight rebounds, picking up two steals and blocking one shot.
Zach Wrightsil now ranks eighth in program history for most points scored in a single season, with 564 on the year.
The freshman also moved to fifth for most rebounds in a season with 246, and sixth for most assists in a season with 120.
Myles Burns climbed the list for most rebounds in a single season as well, moving into fourth place, now with 265 boards in his freshman campaign.
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.
