Box Score The No. 1-seed Wolf Pack needed a late push in Saturday's quarterfinals, but the Pack punched their ticket to the NAIA National Championship Semifinals with a seven-point win in Kansas City.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – This is March. There's no other way to explain what the Loyola Wolf Pack are doing in Kansas City, Missouri.
Trailing by five points in the final three minutes of Saturday's NAIA National Championship Quarterfinals against the No. 3-seeded College of Idaho Yotes, the top-seeded Loyola Wolf Pack used an 11-0 run to help secure a spot in Monday's semifinals with a 60-53 win.
It's the first trip to the semifinals for the program since the 1945-46 season.
The first half featured a low-scoring contest with both teams struggling to put the ball through the hoop. The Pack shot just 23 percent from the floor while the Yotes were 37 percent, as the College of Idaho held a slim 27-24 lead after 20 minutes. Myles Burns scored the game's first three points before the Yotes raced out to a 13-3 lead through the first five-plus minutes.
Jalen Galloway, a transfer from the College of Idaho, got on the board, 13-5, then he made a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to five, 13-8. Loyola was able to get to within two, but again, the Yotes pushed their advantage to 18-11 halfway through the first half. Andrew Fava and Burns each made 3s to keep pace, then another 3 by Fava tied the game at 20-all near the six-minute mark. The two teams traded made shots from there to make it a three-point game at the break.
After neither team scored in the first 90 seconds of the second half, Zach Wrightsil, Cameron Dumas and Burns all made shots in a one-minute span to give Loyola its first lead since the opening minutes, 30-28. The two teams traded the lead a couple of times, with Terry Smith Jr. making a couple of shots to put the Pack up 34-33 with 12 minutes to play.
Neither team could take a lead larger than two points until the College of Idaho used two 3-pointers to jump up five, 52-47, with three minutes left in the game. That's when things started to flip in Loyola's favor, though.
Wrightsil grabbed a defensive rebound and went coast-to-coast for a score, converting the and-1 try as well, 52-50, then fitting enough, Galloway put the Pack up for good, 53-52, with a 3-pointer with less than two minutes to play. After a missed 3-point shot by the Yotes, Dumas scored on a fastbreak, 55-52, then the Wolf Pack defense forced another turnover to get the ball back with 1:15 left. On the other end of the floor, Wrightsil got the ball late in the shot clock and banked a shot off the backboard, 57-52, and free throws by Burns and Dumas helped seal the win.
The Wolf Pack's defense was strong in the final three minutes, forcing the Yotes to shoot 0-for-6 from the floor while pressuring them to turn the ball over two times.
Pack Facts
This is the first time Loyola has reached the semifinals of the NAIA National Championship since 1946.
The Wolf Pack outscored the Yotes 13-1 over the final 2:32 of the game.
In the 50th double-double of his collegiate career, Myles Burns led all scorers with 17 points and 13 rebounds. He also grabbed 4 steals, bringing his career total to 350 takeaways.
Burns has been climbing Loyola's scoring records. He's totaled 530 points this season, which is the 15th-most in a season in Loyola history. For his career, he's at 1,821 points scored, just 12 away from 2nd place on the all-time scoring list.
After a slow start, Zach Wrightsil almost had a double, finishing with 15 points, nine boards, and five steals. Wrightsil put up 11 points in the second half.
Andrew Fava knocked down two three-pointers, giving him 89 on the season. That's the third-most in a single season in Loyola history. Fava has hit at least two triples in every game of the tournament.
Points off turnovers swung the game in Loyola's favor. The Wolf Pack scored 32 points off of the 20 College of Idaho turnovers.
Loyola turned the ball over only eight times in the game, and the Yotes were only able to score three points off of those turnovers.
Wolf Pack Head Coach Stacy Hollowell
NAIA National Championship
Round of 16:
Thursday, March 17
#1 Loyola 85, #4 Faulkner 67
#3 College of Idaho 71, #7 Grace 66
#1 Arizona Christian 82, #5 Bethel 66
#3 William Jessup 88, #2 Indiana Wesleyan 84
Friday, March 18
#1 Oklahoma Wesleyan 85, #5 LSU Shreveport 71
#2 Thomas More 74, #6 SAGU 44
#2 Talladega 67, #6 Jamestown 56
#5 Concordia vs #8 IU Kokomo
Quarterfinals:
Saturday, March 19
#1 Loyola 60, #3 College of Idaho 53
#1 Arizona Christian vs. #3 William Jessup
#1 Oklahoma Wesleyan vs. #2 Thomas More
#2 Talladega vs. #5 Concordia
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.
