Box Score The Loyola men's basketball team traveled to Brewton-Parker and won its 17th game of the season with an 11-point win
MOUNT VERNON, Ga. – The 17th-ranked Loyola Wolf Pack won their seventh conference game of the season Thursday, defeating Brewton-Parker 69-58 in Mount Vernon, Georgia.
The Wolf Pack survived a good first punch from the Barons, but the road win helped Loyola improve to 17-5 overall and 7-3 in Southern States Athletic Conference action. The Wolf Pack continues to sit in third place in the standings, as they're two games back of first place and 1.5 games from second.
The Wolf Pack immediately raced out to an 8-0 lead in the first minute of the game, thanks to 3-pointers by Josh Leaney and Tensley Aldridge. Brewton-Parker, though, took a 9-8 lead less than four minutes later and the Barons extended it to 17-12 with more than seven minutes left in the half. Leaney broke the scoring drought with a driving layup, and the Wolf Pack closed out the first half on a 20-10 run.
Aldridge was big during that stretch, scoring back-to-back field goals to tie the game 23-23. Terry Smith Jr. cleaned up his own miss, Myles Burns made 3-of-4 free throws and Leaney nailed a 3 at the buzzer, as the Wolf Pack went into halftime with a 32-27 lead.
Smith Jr. scored 10 points in the first seven minutes of the second half for the Wolf Pack, opening up a 44-33 lead quickly. In fact, Smith Jr. and Aldridge combined for the first 15 points for Loyola, taking a 45-33 lead with 11 minutes to play.
With five and a half minutes remaining, Brewton-Parker trimmed the score to 52-46 with an 11-2 run. That was as close as the Barons could get, though, because the Wolf Pack built the lead back up to 15 before winning by 11.
Wrightsil had five rebounds in the final five minutes, and Loyola went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line down the stretch to ice the game.
Loyola is back in The Den Thursday against Stillman College at 7:30 p.m. for the first of three straight home games.
Wolf Pack Head Coach Stacy Hollowell
"Brewton-Parker came out with a lot of energy and gave us a really good fight. We got a nice defensive spark to start the second half and built a lead that was enough to sustain us. I've been pleased with our effort in the last couple of games, and I hope we can continue to grow as a group."
Pack Facts
Zach Wrightsil added his ninth double-double of the season, scoring 12 points with 11 rebounds.
Wrightsil, once again, moved up in the Loyola record book Thursday. With three assists against Brewton-Parker, he's now tied for sixth all-time with 235 in his career. Also, his 11 rebounds now gives him 472 in his career, moving him up to ninth all-time.
Myles Burns now owns the Top 2 spots for most steals in a single season by a Loyola player. He set the all-time program record as a freshman with 85 steals, and so far as a sophomore he has 64.
Tensley Aldridge's 16 points is the most the sophomore has scored since he recorded a career-high 23 points against Dillard on Nov. 18.
Terry Smith Jr. added a game-high 20 points, and that's 22 straight double-digit scoring games dating back to last season for the junior. He's scored in double figures in every game he's appeared in this season.
Josh Leaney had his third straight game with at least 10 points, scoring 12 Thursday.
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.
