FULLERTON, Calif. – The Loyola Wolf Pack concluded their road trip in Southern California on Friday night, losing a matchup with (RV) Hope International, 68-35.
The tough opening stretch to the season continues next week. They'll travel to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on Tuesday for an exhibition game against Southern Miss then take on Mobile on the road on Thursday to start Southern States Athletic Conference play.
No one scored for the first three minutes of the game until the Royals put in a couple of buckets to go up 4-0. Leonard Jackson opened the scoring for the Wolf Pack at the 15:20 mark of the first half. Jackson found Cameron Williams for a jumper, and Milan Mejia knocked down a three-pointer as Loyola cut the Royal lead to 9-7 at the 12:38 mark. The home team then scored 10 in a row over the next seven minutes, part of a 17-2 scoring run that put them up 26-9.
The Wolf Pack put in a few more baskets from Jackson and Mejia, plus a couple free throws from Alex Hammond, but Hope International went into halftime with a 30-17 advantage.
To start the second half, Jaylen Peters kept the Wolf Pack afloat, scoring six points within the first four minutes. After two free throws from Peters at the 16:08 mark made the score 39-23, the Royals went on another big scoring run, dropping 13 straight points to extend their lead to nearly 30 points until a three from Bradley Alcime ended the scoring drought.
Over the final 10 minutes, Loyola got four points from Schuyler Pimentel and five from Reece Seicshnaydre but could not overcome the deficit.
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