MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Loyola Wolf Pack men's basketball team made history on Saturday, defeating Tennessee Southern, 51-48, in the SSAC Championship title game. Not only was it the third straight Championship for the program, the seventh-seeded Wolf Pack became the only team in the tournament's history to win four games in four days.
It's the program's fourth SSAC tournament championship, and the fourth in the last six years.
Loyola started the game well, jumping out to a 6-2 lead after the first few minutes. Zachary Lee, Alex Hammond and Julian Baldwin all scored, but the Firehawks had an answer with a 12-2 run over the next four-plus minutes to take a 14-8 advantage after nine minutes of play.
A score by Lee and a free throw from Baldwin made it a 14-11 game, then buckets by Hammond and Milan Mejia cut it to one, 16-15, with more than four minutes until halfway. That was the start of a 13-0 run, highlighted by two dunks from Lee and a 3-pointer from Mejia, to push Loyola's lead to 24-16 near the two-minute mark. Baldwin hit a shot late in the shot clock to help send the Pack into the locker room with a 26-21 lead after 20 minutes of play.
After UT Southern scored the first basket of the second half, Loyola scored nine of the game's next 11 points, including two 3s by Mejia, to extend its lead to 10, 35-25, after four minutes of play. The Firehawks cut into the lead a little, 38-32, as both teams struggled to score over the next five minutes of game time. Braelee Albert finally ended the scoring drought, 40-32, with 10 minutes to play.
Albert hit two free throws to make it a 10-point game, but UT Southern scored nine straight to chip back into the Wolf Pack's lead, 42-41, with more than five minutes to play. Mejia finally ended that run with another one from beyond the arc, then the Firehawks made it a three-point game, 46-43, at the three-minute mark. The Firehakws answered two Mejia free throws and a Hammond 3-pointer to keep their deficit at three, 51-48, then some good defense by both teams brought that same score down to 30 seconds remaining on the clock.
The Firehawks held onto the ball for the entire shot clock, but both of their shot attempts missed to give Loyola the championship victory.
Pack Facts
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Loyola, the lowest-seeded team to ever win the tournament, is the only team in SSAC Men's Basketball Championship history to win four games in four days to capture the title.
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This is the third consecutive SSAC championship for the Wolf Pack, the fourth SSAC tournament title in program history, and the second for head coach Donald Reyes in just his second season.
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No other men's basketball team has won three SSAC Championship tournaments in a row.
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Milan Mejia led all scorers with 16 points, knocking down three shots from long range, adding three rebounds, a steal and a block.
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Mejia moved up in several places in the record book. He's now tied for seventh in career three-pointers with 188, tied for 10th in career steals with 131, and he's made the ninth-most triples in a single season in program history with 79 so far.
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Zachary Lee and Alex Hammond each scored 10 points in the game, with Lee also grabbing nine rebounds.
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Braelee Albert didn't score in double figures, but he affected the game in a variety of other ways. Albert came down with a game-high 13 rebounds, the most in a game for any Wolf Pack player this season, plus a team-best four assists and a block.
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Overall, Loyola outrebounded UT Southern 41-29, which led to the Pack outscoring the Firehawks 9-2 in second chance points.
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The Pack also held the Firehawks to just 31.5 shooting from the field on 17 made shots, the fewest makes for any opponent since Reyes became head coach.
2024 SSAC Men's Basketball Championship Schedule
Wednesday, February 28
Game 1 | #7 Loyola def. #10 Middle Georgia, 65-58
Game 2 | #8 Thomas def. #9 Faulkner, 74-58
Thursday, February 29
Game 3 | #3 Life def. #6 Dalton State, 81-76
Game 4 | #7 Loyola vs. #2 Stillman, 79-76
Game 5 | #1 UT Southern def. #8 Thomas, 77-64
Game 6 | #5 Mobile def. #4 William Carey 85-68
Friday, March 1
Game 7 | #7 Loyola def. #7 Loyola, 69-66
Game 8 | #1 UT Southern def.. #5 Mobile, 70-54
Saturday, March 2
Championship Game | #7 Loyola def. #1 UT Southern, 51-48
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