Box Score Saturday's win gives head coach Stacy Hollowell the 128th win of his Loyola career, moving him to second all-time in program history
ALEXANDRIA, La. – For the second straight NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship, the Loyola Wolf Pack has punched their ticket to the Round of 16. In the Opening Round Saturday in Alexandria, 16th-seed Loyola took down No. 18 Talladega 78-55 to keep their season going, advancing to the final site of the NAIA tournament.
Loyola also advanced to the Round of 16 during the 2018-19 tournament, as the 2020 NAIA Basketball Championship was canceled due to COVID-19. Loyola was a No. 6 seed in last year's tournament before it was halted.
Instead of playing a 32-team tournament in Kansas City, Missouri, the NAIA had 16 three-team tournaments scattered across the country to determine which 16 teams would play in a six-day tournament to crown the National Champion. The Wolf Pack was dubbed the No. 1 seed of the Alexandria Opening Round Bracket, and after No. 2 Talladega beat No. 3 LSU Alexandria Friday, the Wolf Pack had to go through the Tornadoes Saturday.
The Wolf Pack never trailed in the contest, but the Tornadoes tied the game three times in the first five minutes before Loyola started to pull away. Zach Muller broke a 2-2 tie with a 3-pointer, Zach Wrightsil broke a 5-5 tie with free throws, and Myles Burns put the Pack up for good, 9-7, after a turnover and a fastbreak bucket. Burns and Andrew Fava each hit 3-pointers over the next six minutes to give Loyola its largest lead at the time, 22-14.
Wrightsil started the game 9-for-9 from the free-throw line, and two of those came with 8:26 left in the first half to make it a double-digit lead for the Pack, 24-14. Wrightsil then converted an old-fashioned 3-point play 90 seconds later to extend the lead to 31-17. Muller, Burns and Terry Smith Jr. scored three consecutive baskets to end the first half with the Pack on top 41-20.
It was much of the same in the second half for Loyola, as Fava, Wrightsil and Burns all had 3-pointers in the first five minutes to move the score to 52-30. Smith scored back-to-back buckets, then Wrightsil gave Loyola its largest lead of the game, 57-32, with a free throw.
Eddie Burgess got in on the action with six quick points over a two-minute span, and Tensley Aldridge nailed a 3-pointer with 6:16 left to make it a 67-41 game. Talladega could only get to within 17 points of Loyola, 72-55, but five more points from Wrightsil and two free throws by Fava quickly made it a 20-point game with two minutes to go.
Wolf Pack Head Coach Stacy Hollowell
On the hard-fought victory:
"We have a ton of respect for Talladega. Amir Yusuf was dominant in the paint yesterday against LSU Alexandria, and our guys knew coming in that we would have to contend with that. We did coach them all the way through to the end."
On Zach Wrightsil, Myles Burns, and Terry Smith Jr.:
"There aren't many teams in the country that have three 1,000-point scorers on the floor, and guys who are in the top five in rebounding all-time at their schools. We have three of those guys. They played so hard and so passionately, They executed the game plan really well, especially in the first half. That first half was maybe the best first half of defense we've played this year."
On passing mentor Michael Giorlando on the all-time wins list:
"Mike Giorlando is my mentor and hero. He has been there for me in some of life's most difficult moments and I will be forever grateful for his friendship. I don't know of anyone who gives more to others than he does. He laid the foundation for what we have been able to build as a program, and he showed me that we could win games with high-performing, high-character guys. Loyola hired a great man when they hired Coach Gio, and it is a true honor to be able to follow in his footsteps."
Pack Facts
This is the second victory for the Wolf Pack in the last two NAIA National Championship tournaments. The team defeated No. 3 seed Missouri Baptist in the 2019 tournament.
For Coach Stacy Hollowell, this was career win No. 128. With the win, he passes his mentor and predecessor, Dr. Michael Giorlando, to move into second on Loyola's all-time wins list.
Zach Wrightsil recorded game-highs in both points (25) and assists (7).
Now with 1,402 points for his career, Wrightsil rose three spots and is now 12th on the all-time Wolf Pack scoring list.
Myles Burns also moved up in the record book after scoring 14 points. He now sits at 19th on the all-time scoring list with 1,254 career points.
Terry Smith Jr. collected his fourth double-double of the season, putting up 14 points and 16 rebounds. The rebounds are his highest total since his freshman season, when he grabbed 18 against LSU-Shreveport.
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