Box Score The 16th-ranked Loyola Wolf Pack played Stillman College for the fifth time of the season Friday, losing another nail-biter to the Tigers to end the Wolf Pack SSAC tournament run
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Loyola Wolf Pack's run at the Southern States Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship came to an end Friday, losing to Stillman College 63-62 in heart-breaking fashion in a semifinal matchup.
No. 16 Loyola (13-5) will now wait until Thursday, March 4, at 7 p.m. to hear its name called as an at-large bid to the NAIA Championship tournament.
The Tigers scored the first four points of the game, and held an early lead until about the first media timeout. With 12 minutes to go in the first half, however, five different Wolf Pack players scored en route to a 15-3 run, and Loyola seized a 24-15 advantage at the 8:13 mark of the opening period.
Loyola and Stillman played five times this season, all but one game decided by single digits, and this game would be no different, with neither team holding more than a nine-point lead for the remainder of the game. The Pack closed out the first 20 minutes with five-straight points, leading 35-29 at the break, behind 10 first-half points from Terry Smith Jr.
Bouncing back in the second half, Stillman scored 12-straight coming out of halftime. The Tigers kept the Pack at-bay for most of the frame, holding a 57-49 advantage with six minutes left to play. Then, Myles Burns and Zach Wrightsil ignited the offense, putting up a combined 10 points over the next two minutes to tie the game at 59-59.
A fastbreak layup by Andrew Fava and a free throw by Smith completed a 13-2 run for Loyola, giving the Pack a three-point lead with just over a minute remaining.
Stillman made two baskets in the final 60 seconds, however, and Loyola was unable to get a bucket and advance to the final.
Pack Facts
Myles Burns and Zach Wrightsil each registered double-doubles in both games of the tournament.
Burns put up 12 points and 15 rebounds, as well as a game-high four assists, four steals, and two blocks. It's his 34th-career double-double and his second-straight.
The Houston native also moved up in the Loyola record books; he's now 20th in all-time scoring with 1240 points for his career.
Wrightsil's game-high 16 points and 11 boards gave him his third-straight double and the 34th of his career.
He also moved up in the all-time blocks list and is now tied for fifth with 80 blocks in his Wolf Pack career.
Terry Smith Jr. and Andrew Fava were the other Loyola players in double figures, each scoring 13.
