Box Score The 16th-ranked Loyola Wolf Pack used a long run in the second half to help win Thursday's first-round game against William Carey
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The No. 16 Loyola Wolf Pack are moving on at the Southern States Athletic Conference Men's Championship, defeating William Carey 69-55 in the first round. Thursday marked the fifth matchup this season between the Wolf Pack and the Crusaders, with each team winning twice at home prior to Thursday's first-round matchup in Montgomery, Alabama.
It's the sixth straight season Loyola has advanced to the conference tournament semifinals, too, and it's now set to play the winner of Stillman-and Brewton-Parker at 3 p.m. on in the SSAC Men's Basketball Championship semifinals.
Loyola really grabbed control of the game with 12:13 left in the second half. Holding a slim 40-38 lead, Loyola pushed ahead to a 59-39 advantage thanks to a 19-1 run that took more than five minutes off the clock. Terry Smith Jr. started the run with five quick points, then Zach Muller added a 3-pointer to quickly push the score to 48-38. Myles Burns made a 3 two minutes later and three points from Zach Wrightsil ended the long run with a 20-point Loyola lead and 5:43 left in the game.
William Carey tried to get back in the game, cutting the Pack's lead to 59-47 with three minutes to play, but Andrew Fava and Myles Burns ended any hope of a Crusaders' comeback. Fava drilled a 3-pointer to put Loyola back up 62-47, then Burns made three free throws to keep it a comfortable lead.
The two teams played evenly in the first half, as the lead changed 10 times in the first 20 minutes of play. William Carey scored the game's first four points, but Wrightsil got Loyola on the board and Burns hit a 3-pointer to put Loyola up 5-4. With the score tied a couple of minutes later, Muller made a shot to put the Wolf Pack up 12-10 with 14 minutes left in the half before the Crusaders pushed back ahead by five.
Muller and Smith got Loyola back to within a point, and Burns gave Loyola a 20-19 lead with 3:32 left on the clock. Tensley Aldridge made a 3 with two minutes left, but the Crusaders answered with a 3-pointer to send Loyola into the half trailing 26-25.
Milan Mejia and Smith started the second half with five points each to retake the lead for Loyola, extending it to 40-33, but William Carey cut the score to 40-38 a couple of minutes later to set up Loyola's long run.
Wolf Pack Head Coach Stacy Hollowell
"Another hard-fought win over a really tough William Carey group. More than half of our season has been against Stillman and William Carey, so we all know each other so well that every possession is really important in every game. Our first-half performance was not good but the guys came out with a better mental approach in the second half and we were able to build a solid lead."
Pack Facts
Thursday was Stacy Hollowell's 127 win as the Wolf Pack head coach, and he's now tied with Michael Giorlando, Hollowell's predecessor, with the second-most wins in the program's history.
Zach Wrightsil pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds. He also scored 12 points to earn his sixth double-double of the season and the 33rd of his career.
Myles Burns also tallied his 33rd career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. He leads the team with seven this season, though.
Thursday marked the fifth game this season that two Wolf Pack players recorded double-doubles.
Terry Smith Jr. narrowly missed a double-double, but he led the Wolf Pack with 18 points to go along with his eight boards.
Smith's 18 points gave him 1,306 for his career, which moved the senior up to 17th in Loyola history.
The NAIA's best offensive rebounding team had 19 against William Carey, and that's the seventh time this season with at least that many offensive boards.
SSAC Tournament Schedule
Thursday, Feb. 25
Game 1 | No. 3 Loyola 69, No. 6 William Carey 55
Game 2 | No. 2 Stillman 85, No. 7 Brewton-Parker 52
Game 3 | No. 1 Faulkner 92, No. 8 Blue Mountain 65
Game 4 | No. 5 Mobile 71, No. 4 Middle Georgia 59
Friday, Feb. 26
Game 5 | 3 pm | No. 3 Loyola v No. 2 Stillman
Game 6 | 7 pm | No. 5 Mobile v No. 1 Faulkner
Saturday, Feb. 27
Championship Game | 6:30 pm
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