Box Score Loyola advances to the semifinals at the SSAC Championship behind 25 points from the senior guard
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – For the fourth-consecutive season, the Loyola University New Orleans men's basketball team has reached the semifinals of the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Men's Basketball Championship, knocking out fifth-seeded Dalton State 68-66 Thursday afternoon.
While the Roadrunners (18-13, 12-9 SSAC) scored first, the Wolf Pack (19-11, 13-9 SSAC) had a blazing hot start to the game, with Ethan Turner hitting three unanswered triples within the first three minutes to put the Pack up 9-2 early. Loyola would hold a lead for the rest of the half, with Turner adding another trey to his total, and Ben Fields knocking in two from deep, including one as time expired to give the fourth-seeded Wolf Pack a 28-22 lead heading into halftime.
Turner added another make from deep after a floater from Myles Burns that gave the Pack a double-digit lead to open the second half. Eric Brown then joined the hot shooting, hitting a three-pointer, followed by two technical free throws from Turner which gave Loyola its largest lead of the contest at 43-29 with just over five minutes gone in the period.
The Wolf Pack held a double-digit lead for most of the second half, holding a 58-48 advantage with five minutes left in the game, but the Roadrunners successfully chipped away at their deficit, tying the game at 66-all with 24 seconds left. Then, after hitting four clutch free throws in the final two minutes, Brown came up big once again, nailing a tough go-ahead jumper which gave Loyola a 68-66 advantage.
Dalton State had one last chance with two seconds left, but the Pack forced a deep three-point attempt which rattled out, giving the Wolf Pack a win to advance to the semifinals of the SSAC Championship.
Loyola will take on either Martin Methodist or Stillman tomorrow, March 1 at 3 p.m., which will be live streamed by the SSAC here.
Wolf Pack Head Coach Stacy Hollowell
On the defensive strategy on the last play: "Frazier got way more open than we had hoped, but we wanted to just keep them in front, thinking that they'd throw it to the free throw line, so we tried to clog that area up a little bit."
On the team advancing to the semifinals: "We have high-character kids, and we're excited that they keep pushing forward. We have a nice core of young guys and the leadership from our seniors today paid off in big dividends with Eric Brown having 13, Ethan had 25, and Ben Fields knocked some threes down for us, so all three of those guys are great senior leaders for us."
On the next matchup against either Martin Methodist or Stillman: "Both teams are really good. Either game will be a challenge for us. We'll be excited to see who comes out of that matchup tonight, and we're looking forward to tomorrow."
Pack Facts
Ethan Turner had a career-high 25 points today, and connected on a career-best seven three-pointers.
Turner moved into a tie for sixth place for most three pointers made in a career at Loyola with Nick Parker at 188.
The 2019 senior class led the charge for the Pack today, scoring 50 of Loyola's 68 points.
Benjamin Fields tied a career mark with three makes from deep, scoring 13 points while grabbing four rebounds.
Eric Brown finished the day with 11 points, and was 6-6 from the free throw line.
You can keep up with the Pack by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.
