Box Score Terry Smith Jr. and Myles Burns each notched double-doubles in an 80-71 win
BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. – Playing in the final game of the 2019-20 regular season, the Loyola University New Orleans men's basketball team downed Blue Mountain College in a road matchup 80-71 Saturday.
Now with a 21-9 overall record and 11-7 in conference play, Loyola will look ahead to next week's SSAC Men's Basketball Championship, where they will be the No. 4 seed.
While Loyola led for most of the first half, neither team could jump out to a large lead. The Toppers led by four early in the half, while the Wolf Pack was able to take a five point advantage with three minutes to play in the first 20 minutes.
Terry Smith Jr. scored six points in the first five minutes to help keep the Pack within three of BMC, 11-8. Field goals by Myles Burns, Zach Wrightsil and Smith Jr. put the Wolf Pack up 15-13 with 12 minutes to play, then Tensley Aldridge made back-to-back shots to extend it to 22-18 five minutes later. Loyola took its largest lead of the half, 30-25, after Wrightsil converted a steal into a Smith Jr. bucket with three minutes left.
Blue Mountain, however, finished the final three minutes on a 10-5 run to tie the game at 35-35 at halftime.
The teams traded baskets throughout the first few minutes of the second period, with the Toppers holding a two-point advantage at 43-41 with four minutes gone. A Matt Maturah three-pointer then sparked a 15-1 run for the Wolf Pack as they gained a 56-44 lead, the visitors' largest of the game.
Blue Mountain would never get within more than four points, as Loyola closed out the game on free throws from Tim Cameron, the final buzzer sounding with Loyola up 80-71.
Loyola will face fifth-seeded Bethel in the quarterfinals of the SSAC Championship in Montgomery, Ala., in a game scheduled for 9:45 p.m.
Pack Facts
21 regular-season wins is the most by Loyola since the men's basketball program was reinstated in 1991.
Two Wolf Pack players posted double-doubles, including Terry Smith Jr., who put up 16 points and 11 rebounds while not missing any of his seven field goal attempts.
Smith now has 650 rebounds for his career, moving up to third all-time in the Loyola record books for career rebounds.
Myles Burns collected the other double-double with 11 points, 12 boards. It's his tenth double-double of the season.
Tim Cameron led the Wolf Pack in scoring with 19 points, adding four assists to give him 127 assists for the season. That's the fifth-most in Loyola history for a single-season.
The fourth-highest single-season assist total still belongs to Zach Wrightsil, who now has 129 this year with two dimes Saturday. He also tallied three steals to lead the team.
Four members of the Pack finished in double figures, with Matt Maturah (10) scoring double digits for the third-straight contest.
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