Box Score The Loyola Wolf Pack men's basketball team took down Arizona Christian in the semifinals on Monday to earn a spot in Tuesday's NAIA National Championship game
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – It's been 77 years since Loyola University New Orleans has won a national championship in any sport. In fact, it's been that long since the athletics department has even played for a national title, as the school's lone championship was the 1944-45 men's basketball team.
After the Wolf Pack's 82-70 win over Arizona Christian in the NAIA National Championship Semifinals on Monday, they'll play Talladega for the NAIA National Championship on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 as well.
What makes this even more special for the athletics department is it's coming almost 50 years to the date when the school announced it would shut down athletics. For 19 years Loyola didn't have the Wolf Pack to root for until athletics returned in 1991. Thirty-one years later, Loyola (36-1) is on the cusp of making history.
The Pack came out the gate better than they did the previous two games they've played in Kansas City this week, taking a 6-0 lead after scores by Myles Burns and Zach Wrightsil. Burns then made his first 3-pointer to make it a 9-2 lead, and a steal and a layup by the fourth-time Southern States Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year quickly put Loyola up 11-4.
Arizona Christian did fight back and cut the score to 16-14, but Loyola's variety on offense a tough defense made it nearly impossible for the Firestorm to even tie the game. Andrew Fava made all three of his free throws after being fouled, Jalen Galloway hit a 3-pointer and Cameron Dumas nailed consecutive 3s to push the lead back out to 28-16 with seven minutes until halftime.
That set the tone for the rest of the game. Any time ACU tried to make a run, the Pack answered. With four minutes to go in the first half, Loyola led 36-18, but Arizona Christian was able to make it an 11-point ballgame at the break.
A steal by Brandon Davis led to another score by Burns to start the second half, holding ACU scoreless for the first two and a half minutes. A 3 by Fava made it a 15-point lead, 45-30, then a steal by Burns leading to a Wrightsil slam extended it to a 17-point lead just three minutes into the new period.
Nothing really changed for the rest of the game, as the Pack led by 18 (61-43) with 10 minutes to go and 22 (68-46) with less than six minutes left. From there, ACU tried to play the foul game, but Loyola made enough free throws and played solid defense to ensure the win.
Tuesday's matchup with Talladega (36-5) will be the fourth time the Pack and Tornadoes have met this season, with Loyola winning all three matchups. Loyola won the first meeting in New Orleans 90-82 in overtime, then it won a 77-71 contest on the road at Talladega before a 73-63 victory in the SSAC Championship.
Pack Facts
This is Loyola's first appearance in the NAIA National Championship final since 1945. That was also the last time the Wolf Pack were crowned NAIA champions.
Five members of the Pack scored in double figures on Monday: Zach Wrightsil (20), Myles Burns (16), Jalen Galloway (16), Cameron Dumas (12), and Andrew Fava (10).
Wrightsil's 20 points brought him to 690 on the season, which is tied for the most in a single season in Loyola history.
Burns also moved up in the scoring records. He's now 11th in single-season points with 546 this season.
With 1,837 points in his career, Burns is now second in Wolf Pack history in career points scored. Burns and Wrightsil will finish this season as Loyola's top two scorers ever.
Four of the top five single-season steals records belong to current members of the Wolf Pack. Burns holds the top three records (148, 85, 81), while fourth and fifth now belong to Brandon Davis (76) and Wrightsil (75).
Loyola made eight three-pointers against ACU, with four different Wolf Pack players each knocking down a couple of treys. Fava has made at least two triples in every game of the tournament.
Burns currently holds the longest streak of games with a three-pointer made on the team. He's made a triple in all 10 games since February 19, and he's shooting 16-of-35 (46 percent) from behind the arc in that span.
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 75, #8 IU Kokomo 65
Quarterfinals:
Saturday, March 19
#1 Loyola 60, #3 College of Idaho 53
#1 Arizona Christian 90, #3 William Jessup 79
#2 Thomas More 59, #1 Oklahoma Wesleyan 56
#2 Talladega 77, #5 Concordia 69
Semifinals:
Monday, March 21
#1 Loyola 82, #1 Arizona Christian 70
#2 Talladega 78, #2 Thomas More 77
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