No. 7 seed Loyola beats No. 2 Stillman

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Loyola men's basketball team's run at the Southern States Athletic Conference Championship continues, as the seventh-seeded Wolf Pack upset No. 2 seed Stillman, 79-76, in the tournament's quarterfinal round. Loyola and No. 3 seed Life University will meet in the semifinals at 3 p.m. on Friday. 
 

It's the eighth straight win at the conference championship for the two-time defending SSAC tournament champions. 
 

The Wolf Pack got off to a good start, 9-5, as Zachary Lee scored four points, Bradley Alcime hit a 3-pointer and Braelee Albert scored in the first three minutes. After Stillman cut it to 9-8 moments later, Albert hit a 3 and Julian Baldwin added five points to extend Loyola's lead to 19-12 at the 12:28 mark. The Tigers, however, used an 18-6 run over the next five-plus minutes of game time to take a 30-25 lead with seven minutes until halfway. 
 

Alex Hammond and Lee hit a couple of free throws each to get it back to within one, but Loyola played a possession or two behind for the rest of the first half. Free throws by Albert and Hammond made it a 35-33 Stillman lead, then three points from Baldwin kept the deficit to within three, 40-37, with three minutes left. Back-to-back scores by Hammond and Albert closed out the half with the Tigers leading, 43-41. 
 

A combination of Albert, Hammond and Milan Mejia helped Loyola take an early second-half lead, 52-51, as Albert hit a 3 during the first five minutes. The Tigers hit their third 3 of the half to jump back ahead, then Baldwin tied it at 54-54 with 13-plus minutes left in the game. Stillman used a 7-0 run from there to go ahead 61-54, but an old-fashioned 3-point play and a 3 by Hammond helped give Loyola a 62-61 advantage with 9:33 to play. 
 

A couple of free throws by Hammond and Mejia made it a 66-61 score, making it a 12-0 run for Loyola, but Stillman got back to within one, 68-67. Leonard Jackson scored his first points and Mejia drained a 3-pointer, 73-70, to fight off Stillman tying the game. Lee scored twice after that on back-to-back possessions, the second coming off a steal, 77-70, then Stillman trimmed Loyola's lead to 77-76 with less than a minute to go. 
 

Lee came up clutch again, hitting a late-in-the-shot-clock jumper to put Loyola up three, 79-76, with 12.8 seconds remaining. Stillman's potential game-tying 3 was off the mark, sending the Maroon and Gold to the SSAC Championship Semifinals. 
 

Pack Facts

• Within the last 12 days, Loyola has beaten four of the top five teams in the conference. 

• This was Loyola's most efficient shooting game of the season. The Pack made 25-of-44 field goal attempts for 56.8 percent. 

• Braelee Albert matched his season high with 22 points, hitting 8-of-13 from the field and 2-of-4 from three-point range. 

• Zachary Lee recorded a double-double for the second game in a row, and the fourth time this season, with 14 points and 10 rebounds, plus a team-high five assists. 

• Alex Hammond also put up 14 points, going 7-of-8 at the free-throw line. 

• Milan Mejia filled up the box score with 11 points, a game-high four steals, three assists, two rebounds, and a block. 

• Julian Baldwin scored in double figures for the third time this season, going 3-of-3 from the field for 10 points. Two of his games scoring 10+ have been against Stillman. 

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 def. #6 Dalton State, 81-76
Game 4, 2:15 p.m. | #7 Loyola vs. #2 Stillman, 79-76
Game 5, 6:15, p.m. | #1 UT Southern def. #8 Thomas, 77-64
Game 6, 9:45 p.m. | #5 Mobile def. #4 William Carey, 85-68
 

Friday, March 1
Game 7, 3:00 p.m. | #3 Life vs. #7 Loyola
Game 8, 7:00 p.m. | #1 UT Southern vs. #5 Mobile
 

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