NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola University New Orleans men's basketball team pulled away for an easy Southern States Athletic Conference win over Thomas University on Saturday, 96-75, improving its league record to 6-5. Loyola (7-11) will now head to Faulkner on Thursday for another league contest, taking on the Eagles at 7:30 p.m. in Montgomery, Alabama.
Milan Mejia scored the game's first points with a 3-pointer, but the Night Hawks jumped out to a 10-3 lead four minutes into the contest. A 3-pointer by Kameron Johnson and an old-fashioned 3-point play by Braelee Albert got the Pack to within three, then Julian Baldwin kept it the same deficit a few minutes later, 17-15. Thomas pushed back ahead 24-18 with seven and a half left in the half.
Loyola picked up its scoring after that, getting four points from Albert and scores by Alex Hammond and Zachary Lee, giving the Wolf Pack the two-point lead with an 8-0 run. The two teams traded the lead a couple of times before free throws by Lee put Loyola ahead 32-31 at the 2:47 mark. Hammond and Bradley Alcime each hit 3s down the stretch to give the hosts a 41-38 lead at the break.
Leonard Jackson got his first points to start the second half, and that was followed by a field goal from Hammond and a 3 by Mejia to keep the Wolf Pack in front, 48-43, in the early going. Hammond hit back-to-back shots, then Hammond and Mejia both nailed 3s to make it a 12-point lead, 60-48, eight minutes into the half. The 3s continued to fall for Loyola, as Mejia and Albert put Loyola ahead 66-54 near the halfway point
Loyola's 11th and 12th 3-pointer of the game put it up 76-64, as Lee and Alcime hit those with less than eight minutes on the clock. Lee scored twice after that, including a dunk that brought The Den's crowd to its feet, and then the redshirt freshman made two 3s for his 23rd point to give Loyola its largest lead, 86-67.
Lee finished off his 30-point game and the game's result was never in doubt in the closing minutes.
Pack Facts
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Zachary Lee enjoyed a career performance, earning new collegiate highs with 30 points and 12 rebounds plus five assists and a steal while making 10-of-15 shots from the field and 4-of-5 from three-point range. It was also his first double-double with the Pack.
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Lee's 30 points were the most in a game for any Wolf Pack player since Michael Harden had 35 against Stillman on Jan. 14, 2023.
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Braelee Albert poured in 18 on Saturday, his most points scored in a Wolf Pack uniform.
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Milan Mejia went 4-of-6 from deep, finishing with 14 total points. It was his fifth game knocking down at least four treys this season.
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Alex Hammond filled up the box score, scoring 15 points to go along with a team-high six assists, five rebounds, two steals, and a block.
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Overall, the Wolf Pack combined to make 15-of-28 on triples. It was the team's best three-point performance of the season, and the most in a game since Loyola made 15 against Faulkner on Feb. 5, 2022.
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Loyola's 96 points scored as a team were the most of the season. It was also the most points scored since Oct. 28, 2022 when the team put up 101 in the season opener against Clinton College.
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