Men’s basketball wins first-round matchup

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The seventh-seeded Loyola Wolf Pack men's basketball team must win four games in four days to win the Southern States Athletic Conference Championship, and it started with a 65-58 first-round win over No. 10 seed Middle Georgia State on Wednesday. Loyola will now play No. 2 seed Stillman College at 2:15 p.m. on Thursday in the tournament's quarterfinal round. 
 

It's the fourth straight win for the Wolf Pack, too. 
 

The two teams combined for just 10 points in the first five minutes of play, with Middle Georgia taking the 6-4 lead. Julian Baldwin checked into the game and immediately put Loyola ahead, 11-6, with two scores. Alex Hammond hit a 3-pointer during that stretch as well, and Leonard Jackson hit one from long-range to make it a 15-11 lead at the halfway point of the first half. 
 

Eddie Burgess picked up an offensive rebound and scored, 17-11, after that, making it a 13-5 Loyola run that lasted for four minutes of game time. After a couple of made shots by the Knights, Braelee Albert hit a 3 and Troy Thomas got on the board to give Loyola a 22-18 advantage with seven minutes left. Thomas scored two more times, 27-23, and a combination of Zachary Lee and Milan Mejia helped Loyola finish the first 20 minutes of the game strong, taking a 33-25 lead into the break. 
 

MGA made it a six-point game in the opening minutes of the second half, but a four-point play by Mejia extended it back out to 10, 40-30, three-plus minutes into it. A 3 by Albert and a two-point field by Hammond pushed out to 12, 45-33, but the Knights battled back with a 9-0 run to cut their deficit to three, 45-42, by the 10-minute mark. 
 

Jackson ended MGA's run with a pair of free throws and Hammond hit another 3-pointer to give Loyola back the momentum, 50-44. After nearly two minutes of neither team scoring, Hammond and Kameron Johnson both scored to take a 54-46 lead with 6:36 on the clock. A field goal by Hammond and free throws from Lee pushed it back to a 10-point lead, 58-48, then Albert kept it there a couple of minutes later with a score, 60-50. Middle Georgia got it to within six a couple of times, but free throws by Mejia and Albert put the game on ice for the Wolf Pack. 
 

Pack Facts

• Zachary Lee notched his third double-double of the year with 10 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Listed as a 6-4 guard, Lee leads the Wolf Pack this year with 6.6 rebounds per game. 

• Alex Hammond put up 13 points plus four assists, both team highs on the day. 

• For the ninth game in a row, Milan Mejia scored in double figures, finishing with 10 points and eight rebounds. 

• Braelee Albert also had eight rebounds, plus nine points and two steals. 

• The Pack's all-time record against Middle Georgia improved to 15-3. Loyola has taken the last 10 matchups with the Knights dating back to 2019. 

• This was Loyola's fourth time holding an opponent under 60 points in a game this season. 

2024 SSAC Men's Basketball Championship Schedule

Wednesday, February 28
Game 1, 10:45 a.m. | #7 Loyola def. #10 Middle Georgia, 65-58
Game 2, 2:15 p.m. | #8 Thomas def. #9 Faulkner, 74-58
 

Thursday, February 29
Game 3, 10:45 a.m. | #3 Life vs. #6 Dalton State
Game 4, 2:15 p.m. | #7 Loyola vs. #2 Stillman
Game 5, 6:15, p.m. | #8 Thomas vs. #1 UT Southern
Game 6, 9:45 p.m. | #4 William Carey vs. #5 Mobile
 

Friday, March 1
Game 7, 3:00 p.m. | Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4
Game 8, 7:00 p.m. | Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6
 

Saturday, March 2
Championship Game, 6:30 p.m. | Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8