Men’s basketball ends 2024 with an exhibition against SELA

HAMMOND, La. – The Loyola University New Orleans men's basketball team made the short trip to Hammond, Louisiana, on Friday to take on Southeastern Louisiana in an exhibition contest, losing 96-62. This wraps up Loyola's 2024 portion of its schedule, but the Wolf Pack will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 4, at William Carey. 

Loyola got off to a good start thanks to three 3-pointers in the first three minutes. Leonard Jackson got things going, then Milan Mejia and Braelee Albert added one from long range to give Loyola a 9-4 lead after three minutes of play. Jackson scored again, 11-6, but Southeastern evened the game by the 15-minute mark. Jaylen Peters converted an old-fashioned 3-pointer to put Loyola back on top, 14-13, but the Lions led 21-16 after 10 minutes of play. 

Jackson scored twice to keep the score close, 24-20, with seven minutes left until halftime, however, SELA quickly answered with a 31-20 lead 90 seconds later. Kameron Johnson's scored was answered by the Lions with a 13-3 run to take control of the game, 44-25, with two and a half minutes left. Bradley Alcime scored his first points and Reece Seicshnaydre hit a 3, 51-32, but the Wolf Pack trailed by 21 at the break. 

Mejia knocked down another triple to score Loyola's first points of the second half. Once again, Alcime got going with a 3-pointer and a jumper to cut the Lions' lead to 19. With under eight minutes to go, Albert scored two points from the charity stripe to have 10 points and 11 rebounds, the only player in Friday's game to achieve a double-double. Alcime sunk back-to-back treys towards the end of the second half to notch a team-high of 13 points. To end the game, Brody Adams logged his first points of the game with an assist by Dominic Brown.