PANAMA CITY, Fla. – The Loyola Wolf Pack men's basketball team started the Battle at the Beach on Monday with a loss to Texas A&M-Texarkana, 73-66, which moved their early-season record to 2-3 overall. The Pack will play one more game to conclude their time in Panama City, Florida, matching up with No. 25 Florida College on Tuesday at 11 a.m.
Loyola fell behind 6-0 in the first couple of minutes, as Milan Mejia took a steal down the court for the team's first points. Eddie Burgess scored and a 3-pointer by Alex Hammond gave Loyola its first lead, 8-6, then another 3 for Hammond made it an 11-8 lead seven minutes into the game. After the Eagles regained the lead, Leonard Jackson tied it with a couple of three throws before five quick points by Mejia and a score from Julian Baldwin gave the Wolf Pack a 20-15 advantage more than halfway through the first half.
Mejia knocked down his second 3 of the game a couple of minutes later, 23-17, then Hammond scored again to keep it a multi-possession lead, 25-20, with five minutes until halftime. Texarkana, however, scored nine straight over the next four minutes before Kameron Johnson ended the run trailing 29-27. The Eagles would end the first half with a 31-27 lead after that.
Texarkana outscored the Pack by four through the first 10 minutes of the second half, pushing ahead 47-39. Johnson led Loyola with four of its 12 points by that point of the half, as Braelee Albert added three while Hammond and Zachary Lee each had two. After the Eagles made it a 10-point ballgame, Lee got one to go to make the deficit eight again, 49-41, with nine minutes left.
Noah Goines, Hammond and Lee scored on three consecutive possessions, 50-47, but four quick points by the Eagles ended that quick run for the Wolf Pack. Burgess kept Loyola close with two made shots, including an old-fashioned 3-point play, 56-52, with less than five minutes to go. Cameron Williams made his first field goal to keep it a two-possession game, 60-54, and Hammond answered two Texarkana free throws with a score, 62-56, at the 2:40 mark. Down by 10 moments later, Mejia hit a 3 to trim the deficit back down to seven, 66-59, but Texas A&M-Texarkana did enough to hang on for the win.
Pack Facts
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Milan Mejia knocked down four shots from distance on Monday, finishing with a team-high 17 points and five rebounds.
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Alex Hammond scored in double figures for the fourth time in five games this season, putting up 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
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Eddie Burgess had seven points in his highest scoring game since 2021.
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Zach Lee had six points to go along with five rebounds and a team-high five assists.
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