NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola Wolf Pack men's basketball team hosted No. 9 LSU Shreveport on Friday, as the Pilots handed the Pack their first loss of the season, 70-59. Loyola will play another Top 25-ranked team on Monday, making the short trip across town to play No. 22 Xavier at 7:30 p.m.
LSU Shreveport built an early 8-0 lead through the first three-plus minutes, but a 3-pointer by Kameron Johnson and a score by Alex Hammond got things going for the Wolf Pack, 8-5. The Pilots then built a 10-point lead, 15-5, during the next couple of minutes, and Loyola answered with back-to-back scores from Cameron Williams and Zachary Lee, 15-9. Four more points by Johnson trimmed the deficit to five, 20-15, and a Braelee Albert jumper brought the score to 20-17 with five-plus minutes until halftime.
LSUS went back up by 10 again, 27-17, eventually taking a 33-22 lead into the locker room.
Coming out of halftime, the Wolf Pack continued to trade shots with the Pilots. With 13 minutes left, Loyola got into the bonus with LSU Shreveport in foul trouble, then Mejia made two shots at the stripe to put the Pilot lead at 45-34.
Leonard Jackson made it a single-digit deficit midway through the second half, drilling a 3-pointer from the corner, 47-39. After LSUS went back up 51-39, Bradley Alcime converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to trim it back down to nine, 51-42 at the nine-minute mark, then Johnson made a 3 to bring the score to 52-45 less than two minutes later. Mejia answered another Pilot score with a 3, 54-48, but LSUS answered every Wolf Pack score. Albert and Williams each made two free throws, but it was tough for Loyola to get closer than five. LSU Shreveport would hold the Wolf Pack at bay to earn the win.
Pack Facts
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Bradley Alcime and Kameron Johnson each had 10 points to lead the team.
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Zach Lee was right under double figures with nine points while Milan Mejia had seven points, eight rebounds, and three assists.
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Braelee Albert scored eight with four rebounds in his Wolf Pack debut.
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