Box Score The third-ranked Wolf Pack men's basketball team won their 22nd game of the season Tuesday, dominating the Blue Mountain Toppers in an SSAC contest
NEW ORLEANS – The No. 3 Loyola Wolf Pack men's basketball continued their trend of scoring 100 points on Tuesday, taking down Blue Mountain College 100-58 in The Den. The Pack is now 22-1 overall and 11-1 in conference play, which is a half-game back of No. 2 Talladega.
Next up for Loyola is a date with Dalton State on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in The Den.
Despite the final result, it was a slow start for Loyola's standards to begin the game, as it watched Blue Mountain take an early 7-2 lead in the first two minutes. A score by Zach Wrightsil and a 3-pointer from Brandon Davis in a 20-second span quickly tied the game, but BMC pushed its lead back out to five, 15-10, at the 13:30 mark of the first half. Jalen Galloway made a 3 and Wrightsil scored twice to tie the game again, 17-17, then Myles Burns gave the Pack the lead, 19-17, with 11-plus minutes left until halftime.
Wrightsil, who scored 22 points in the first half, scored consecutive buckets, the latter putting Loyola up for good, 23-22. After Josh Leaney scored, Wrightsil scored nine more points in a two-minute span to extend Loyola's advantage to 35-22. In total, Loyola used a 14-0 run to gain control of Tuesday's contest, and 10 of those points came from Wrightsil.
Andrew Fava and Davis both hit 3s after that, then four more points from Wrightsil sent the Pack into the locker room up 18, 51-33.
Wrightsil and Burns combined to score the first eight points of the second half for both teams, 58-33, then Davis completed the 10-0 run to start the half with a score, 60-33. Terry Smith Jr. got in on the scoring action, but Burns took the game over with 12 points during the next five minutes, including back-to-back dunks after the senior recorded steals prior to each score. The last of those 12 points were free throws, putting Loyola up 40, 82-42. Cameron Dumas scored five quick points and Eddie Burgess added eight points off the bench en route to victory.
The story of the night, though, happened in the final five minutes, as the Wolf Pack's team manager, Sam Ater dressed out for the first time of his collegiate career. Ater promptly grabbed a rebound, then he sent the Loyola fans into a frenzy when he hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds.
Pack Facts
This is Loyola's seventh game this season scoring 100 points. The Pack has also reached the century mark in four-straight home games.
Loyola had more made shots (41) than Blue Mountain had shot attempts (38). The team finished 41-for-73 from the field for 56.2 percent.
The Wolf Pack were led in scoring by Zach Wrightsil, who had 22 points in the first half and finished with 29.
Wrightsil has 1,829 total points for his career, and he's just four points shy of breaking the all-time scoring record at Loyola. He'll get a chance to do so on Thursday when the team faces Dalton State.
Myles Burns once again posted a points-steals double-double, finishing with 21 points, 10 steals, four assists, two rebounds, and a block.
Burns now has 100 steals this season, the first in program history to do so. He's also over 300 total steals for his career, now with 306.
Burns also moved up on the Loyola all-time scoring list, now with 1,573 points scored in his career, 7th in program history.
Brandon Davis was the third player in double figures for the Wolf Pack, putting up 13 points and a season-high nine assists with four steals.
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.
