Box Score Loyola punches their ticket to the NAIA National Championship for the second time in the past three seasons
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Loyola University New Orleans men's basketball team outfought Middle Georgia State in the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Men's Basketball Championship 78-74 Saturday night, claiming the tournament title for the first time in program history.
The Knights (19-12, 11-11 SSAC) got on the board first on a putback, but Terry Smith Jr grabbed an offensive rebound and made a shot on the other end, setting the tone for the rest of the first half for the Wolf Pack (21-11, 13-9 SSAC). Middle Georgia held an 18-13 advantage at the 12-minute media timeout after a 6-0 run, but Loyola countered with a 15-2 stretch over the next seven minutes, grabbing a 27-20 lead. The Wolf Pack would step out in front 37-30 at halftime, with Smith leading the way with 11 points and nine boards, five of which were on the offensive end.
Loyola held a double-digit advantage for most of the second half, up 62-49 after Zach Wrightsil found Ethan Turner for a long three-pointer with 7:12 remaining. Then Middle Georgia gained momentum, hitting four triples over a 16-3 stretch which tied the game at 65 with just over two minutes to play.
Turner hit another three-pointer with 1:28 on the game clock as the Wolf Pack took a 70-67 lead, after which their advantage would never dip under three points. Myles Burns, Eric Brown, and Cameron Dumas combined to go 8-9 on clutch free throws in the final minute, sealing the 78-74 victory and the SSAC Championship crown for Loyola for the first time in program history.
With the Wolf Pack women's basketball team also taking the SSAC Championship title earlier in the day, Loyola is the first school since Southern Polytechnic in the 2009-10 season to win the conference on both the men's and women's sides.
Now with their bid clinched for the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City, Mo., the Wolf Pack will await the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship Selection Show to find out their first round matchup. The bracket reveal is going to be streamed live on the NAIA Facebook page on March 13 at 5 p.m. and can be viewed at the link here.
Wolf Pack Head Coach Stacy Hollowell
On winning Loyola's first SSAC men's basketball championship: "It's pure excitement for us. I'm so happy to represent Loyola, and being able to bring a championship back is super special for us."
On what his team proved to the countrythis weekend: "Hopefully we proved that our league is as tough as I've been saying it is. Middle Georgia is an unbelievable team. They had a little rough stretch earlier in the year and overcame it and battled back with big wins in the tournament. You saw it tonight, they gave us everything they had. They never give up, and Faulkner was an unbelievable team this year as well. All year, I felt like we had six or seven teams in the conference that were good enough to go take a game in the national tournament, and hopefully we can make our case for that as we move forward."
On representing Loyola and the SSAC in the NAIA National Tournament: "It's special for us and we're looking forward to it. I think we can go in there and compete, show that our conference is formidable, and that it's one of the deepest conferences in the league."
On the end of the game: "The difference down the stretch is that we had to stay composed and come together as a team, more than we ever have. We had to stay together, stay confident with the ball, and just finish the game out strong."
On the team's play throughout the tournament: "I feel like we came into this tournament with a chip on our shoulder. At the beginning of the year, we were projected to be the seventh-best team in the conference and we came in here with a mindset that we can go all the way and go to the national tournament, and that's what we did.
On the end of the game: "We needed to be poised. First thing coach said is that we turned the ball over and let it get out of hand, so we stayed controlled and poised. We went out there and controlled the ball, knocked down our free throws, and came in strong."
On being a part of Loyola's first SSAC championship team: "It's such a blessing. The whole team did their thing to get to this point. They say I'm the MVP, but I think it's not my award, it's the team award since we played so well. It means everything to me, especially being a freshman where I haven't had a championship."
On going to the NAIA National Championship: "I'm excited to go to Kansas City. We're going to try our best, and we're not going to go down without a fight."
Pack Facts
With the women claiming the SSAC Championship victory earlier in the day, Loyola becomes the first school in the conference since 2010 to sweep the two basketball tournaments.
Both Myles Burns, the tournament's MVP, and Terry Smith Jr. came up huge for the Wolf Pack with double-doubles today, as Burns scored 17 while grabbing 12 rebounds and Smith dropped 15 to go with 11 boards.
Each contributed on the defensive end as well, as Burns blocked three shots while Smith blocked two and grabbed a pair of steals.
Burns now has 296 rebounds on the season, which ranks as the second-most in a single year in program history.
Joining Burns on the All-Tournament Team was Ethan Turner, who sunk a trio of three pointers and finished with 14 points.
Zach Wrightsil moved up a pair of leaderboards as well, as his 600 points on the year now rank as the fourth-most in a season, and his 133 assists ranks second in the Loyola record books.
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.
