Box Score No. 2 Loyola is back in the SSAC Championship title game for the third time in four seasons, defeating Stillman College on Friday in the semifinals
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The No. 2 Loyola Wolf Pack's SSAC Championship semifinal win over Stillman College was significant for many reasons. It was their 14th straight win, their program-best 30th win of the season, and their third win over Stillman College this season. But more importantly, the 82-69 win over the Tigers in Montgomery, Alabama, on Friday punched Loyola's ticket to the SSAC Championship title game for the third time in the last four seasons.
Top-seeded Loyola, now 30-1 overall, will play the winner of No. 2-seed Talladega and third-seeded Faulkner.
Both teams started slow, as the game remained scoreless for the first two minutes. Loyola and Stillman traded points through the next couple of minutes, with Myles Burns hitting a 3-pointer to put the Pack up 5-4 early in the game. A score by Zach Wrightsil gave Loyola a 7-6 lead, but Stillman was able to jump up 14-10 at the 12-minute mark. That's when things turned in Loyola's favor, though, dominating the rest of the first half to take a 16-point lead by halftime.
Trailing by four, Loyola went on a 13-0 run that ate up nearly six-game minutes, and it was highlighted by two Jalen Galloway 3s. The Tigers missed eight consecutive shots during that six-minute scoring drought, while the Wolf Pack went 4-for-8 from the floor. Even after Stillman scored with six minutes until halftime to end Loyola's run, Terry Smith Jr. quickly answered with an offensive rebound and score to maintain the momentum. Zach Muller followed that up with a 3-pointer and a dunk, then Galloway made it a 19-point game with another 3, 37-18, which gave Loyola a 27-4 run over the last nine minutes. Brandon Davis added one more 3-pointer with a minute left to help bring Loyola's lead to 40-24 by halftime.
Galloway started the second half with a 3-pointer, and Wrightsil and Burns each scored to maintain the Wolf Pack's 17-point advantage, 47-30, though the first four minutes. Galloway hit another 3, but the Tigers were able to cut the deficit down to 13 four-plus minutes later. Smith did his best to stave off Stillman College's run, scoring to make it a 15-point Wolf Pack lead, then he scored back-to-back buckets to push the advantage to 20, 65-45, with less than 10 minutes to go.
Stillman, however, narrowed the score down to 10, 67-57, with a 12-2 run that took up nearly five minutes of game time, but Smith, again, scored six straight points to end Stillman's momentum. Wrightsil, Smith and Burns combined for eight points in the final two and a half minutes to easily hold on to the victory.
Pack Facts
Loyola has beaten Stillman three times in the last 11 days.
This is the third championship game appearance for the Wolf Pack in the past four seasons.
It was another big day for Zach Wrightsil, who led all scorers with 18 points, finishing with 10 rebounds as well for his ninth double-double this season and 45th of his career.
Wrightsil also moved up in Loyola's single-season records, now at ninth in points with 570 and seventh in rebounds with 266. He now owns three of the top seven single-season rebounding records at Loyola.
Myles Burns also moved up in the record book, as he's now at 1,707 points for his career. That's fourth in Loyola history. He's just the fifth Wolf Pack player ever to score over 1,700 career points, joining Wrightsil, Brian Lumar, Sam Trombatore, and Ryan Brock.
Burns finished with nine points in the contest but had a good all-around game, also recording 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Brandon Davis also had eight assists while scoring 14 with three 3-pointers made. It's his fifth game dishing out at least eight assists this season, and his fourth in the month of February alone.
Off the bench, Jalen Galloway had another scorching offensive performance, drilling all five of his three-point attempts with a stat line of 17 total points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks.
Terry Smith Jr. was key in the second half, scoring all but two of his 16 points within the last 11 minutes.
SSAC Men's Basketball Championship Schedule
Wednesday, Feb. 23
Game 1 | #9 William Carey def. #8 Blue Mountain 63-57
Game 2 | #7 Dalton State def. #10 Brewton-Parker 87-56
Thursday, Feb. 24
Game 3 | #4 Stillman def. #5 Mobile 82-79
Game 4 | #1 Loyola def. #9 William Carey 78-59
Game 5 | #2 Talladega def. #7 Dalton State 70-58
Game 6 | #3 Faulkner def. #6 Middle Georgia 89-69
Friday, Feb. 25
Game 7 | #1 Loyola def. #4 Stillman 82-69
Game 8 | #2 Talladega def. #3 Faulkner 85-73
Saturday, Feb. 26
Championship | 6:30 p.m. | #1 Loyola v. #2 Talladega
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.
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.
