Loyola begins Battle at the Beach Monday

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – The Loyola Wolf Pack men's basketball team has played a tough schedule to start the 2024-25 campaign, and it didn't get any easier on Monday. Loyola opened the Battle at the Beach with a 77-70 loss to No. 15 Florida Memorial, which was the fifth time in eight games so far this season the Wolf Pack has played a team either ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25. 
 

Loyola will close out its time in Panama City, Florida, with a matchup against Southeastern (Fla.) at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday. 
 

An old-fashioned 3-point play by Jaylen Peters and a 3-pointer from Milan Mejia got the Wolf Pack off to a hot start in the first minute, 6-2. Kameron Johnson made one from beyond the arc a minute and a half later, 9-4, but the Lions tied it at 11-all before taking their first lead, 14-13, eight minutes into the game. A couple more 3s, one each by Johnson and Mejia, as well as an and-1 conversion by Cameron Williams, gave Loyola a 24-20 lead just after the 10-minute mark.
 

The Wolf Pack would eventually take a 35-34 advantage by halftime, but the two teams exchanged the lead a couple of times throughout the last nine-plus minutes. After Alex Hammond gave Loyola a six-point lead, 26-20 and Leonard Jackson made two free throws to hold Florida Memorial at-bay briefly, FMU went up 30-29 with five minutes until the break. Jackson made a nice move to the rim and then hit two free throws to regain the lead 33-30, but the Lions answered by taking a 34-33 lead in the final minute. Finally, Kosta Bjelicic made a mid-range jumper to close out the first 20 minutes of play. 
 

Florida Memorial had a good start to the second half with four quick points to go back in front, 38-35. Mejia scored twice and Jackson added another to put the Pack on top, 41-39. After Mejia made it a three-point lead with a free throw, FMU went on a strong run over the next eight minutes to go up by 11, 64-53, with a little more than five minutes to play. 
 

Turnovers and missed 3-pointers continued to haunt the Wolf Pack the rest of the way, but free throws by Jackson and Peters and a 3-pointer from Reece Seicshnaydre cut the deficit to seven, 72-65, in the final minute. That difference in score would hold, though.
 

Pack Facts

• Milan Mejia put up a game high of 19 points and four steals. He also hit three three-pointers for the second game in a row. 

• Mejia's four steals brings him to 142 in his collegiate career, eighth-most in program history. 

• Starters Kameron Johnson and Leonard Jackson each scored 12 points in the game. Jackson also had two blocks and made all six of his shots at the free-throw line.