NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola Wolf Pack men's basketball team made the easy trip to Southern University at New Orleans on Thursday, taking down the Knights, 69-65, to improve their early-season record to 2-0. Loyola will now host LSU Shreveport next Friday for a 7 p.m. contest.
Both teams started slow offensively, combining to score 23 points through the first 10 minutes of play. The Wolf Pack defense, though, collected seven steals during that time, as SUNO led 12-11. Milan Mejia and Noah Goines each had four points during that stretch, but Alex Hammond's four steals kept them in the game.
The Knights would eventually take a 17-13 lead with more than six minutes until halftime, but Kameron Johnson scored his first points, 19-17, and Mejia nailed a 3-pointer, 23-20, to keep the Wolf Pack close. With less than 30 seconds until the break, Zachary Lee scored five points, including a last-second 3 to tie it at 27-27.
Hammond got hot in the second half with 17 of his 20 points coming in the final 20 minutes, and it started with a couple of free throws in the opening two minutes to put Loyola ahead 29-27. In a half that saw 13 lead changes, Johnson and Goines helped keep the lead through the first five minutes until SUNO went back ahead 35-33. Hammond hit a 3-pointer and Bradley Alcime earned his first two points to flip the lead again, 38-37, seven minutes into the half. Hammond scored nine more points over the next four minutes to push Loyola's advantage to 47-43, but the Knights tied it at 51-51 and 53-53 before taking a 55-53 lead with five minutes to go.
Two more lead changes took place when Hammond hit another 3, which was immediately answered by a SUNO score, but two Alcime free throws gave Loyola the lead once again, 58-57. After Loyola went down by two with 3:38 on the clock, Mejia hit a 3-pointer to make it a 61-60 Wolf Pack lead, however, SUNO went ahead again, 63-61 with two minutes to go. Lee made a couple of free throws to tie it, 63-63, and Mejia scored to tie it at 65-all, then those two combined for four free throws down the stretch while not allowing anymore more points for the hosts to earn the win.
Pack Facts
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Alex Hammond hit a new career high in his second-straight game, leading all scorers with 20 points to go along with five rebounds, four steals, and two assists.
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Hammond also knocked down three of his four shots from distance, his most ever three-point makes in a single game.
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Milan Mejia hit two triples and was second on the team with 14 points.
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Redshirt freshmen Zach Lee and Noah Goines both put up double-digit scoring career highs, Lee with 12 points and Goines with 11.
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Lee also had eight rebounds to lead the team, while Goines had seven rebounds plus two steals and two blocks.
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Kameron Johnson led the Pack with five assists and five steals.
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Loyola has now won its last four games against SUNO, and eight of its last nine against the Knights since the 2016 season.
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