UT Southern pulls off comeback over Wolf Pack

NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola Wolf Pack men's basketball team couldn't hang on to their lead Thursday afternoon, losing to Tennessee Southern, 69-68, in a Southern States Athletic Conference matchup in The Den. Loyola will head to the Battle at the Beach in Panama City, Florida, to take on Southeastern (Fla.) and No. 15 Florida Memorial next week. 
 

Leonard Jackson made two 3s in the early going, then Cameron Williams and Kosta Bjelicic both scored to bring the game to a 10-10 tie after six minutes of play. Reece Seicshnaydre and Braelee Albert made it five early scorers for the Wolf Pack, and Loyola continued to spread the wealth when Alex Hammond made two shots to take an 18-12 lead near the halfway point of the first half. 
 

That ended up being the start of a 10-0 for Loyola, as Hammond and Mejia both scored to push the score to 24-12 with eight and a half left until the break. Scoring was hard to come by during the next few minutes, but Hammond added to his point total to keep Loyola ahead by 10, 26-16. Loyola finished the half strong behind two 3-pointers from Mejia and four more points by Bjelicic to extend its advantage to 13, 37-24, at the break. 
 

Tennessee Southern had a strong start to the second half, trimming its deficit to six, 46-40, after eight minutes had ticked off the clock. Five points from Albert during that stretch helped keep the Firehawks at-bay, then Kameron Johnson scored during back-to-back possessions, followed by a Williams score, pushing the Pack back up by double digits, 52-40. 
 

After UT Southern answered with consecutive buckets, Jackson made it a 10-point lead again. Threes by Mejia and Jackson kept momentum on Loyola's side for the time being, 62-50, with six minutes to play, but the Firehawks used a 10-0 run to cut the score to two at the three-minute mark. The score would eventually get tied at 64-all, then scores by Bjelicic and Hammond gave Loyola a four-point lead, 68-64, however, the Firehawks got two field goals and a free throw to finish off the comeback. 
 

Pack Facts

• Alex Hammond recorded his first double-double in his Loyola career, finishing with 10 points and 11 rebounds plus three assists. 

• Milan Mejia led the team with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, going 3-of-6 from long range. He's now fourth in Loyola team history with 206 career three-pointers.

• Leonard Jackson also hit three shots from deep, going 3-of-3 on triples, 5-of-7 overall, for 13 points. 

• Kosta Bjelicic was Loyola's fourth double-figure scorer of the afternoon, finishing with 10 points. 

Subscribe to Pack Tracks, a Loyola Athletics Newsletter, for all of the latest information >> https://loyolawolfpack.com/subscribe.aspx. You can also keep up with the Pack by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.