HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Loyola Wolf Pack men's basketball team came up a little bit short on Saturday at William Carey, losing to the Crusaders, 81-77, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Next up for the Pack is a road game at Blue Mountain Christian on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Loyola started the game 3-for-3 from the field and 2-for-2 from the 3-point line, but turnovers plagued Loyola in the first half. Braelee Albert and Leonard Jackson knocked down 3s and Kam Johnson snuck a layup past a couple of William Carey defenders to give Loyola an 8-7 lead after four minutes. Loyola would make five of its first seven 3-point attempts, as two from Milan Mejia and one from Reece Seicshnaydre put Loyola ahead 19-18 halfway through the first half.
William Carey, though, went on an 11-2 run over the next four-plus minutes of the game to take a 29-21 lead. Zachary Lee, who saw his first action since Nov. 25, scored his first points after that, but the Crusaders pushed ahead to go up 11, 39-27, by halftime.
The Crusaders maintained an 8- to 13-point lead for most of the early portion of the second half, but the Wolf Pack did cut the lead down to five, 50-45, six-plus minutes into the new period. Albert had eight of Loyola's second-half points up to that point, and Jackson added five to keep the Wolf Pack close. The Crusaders, however, pushed back ahead by double digits to take a 65-52 advantage halfway through.
That's where things started to turn in Loyola's favor, though. The Pack used a 21-7 run over the next five and a half minutes of game time to take a 73-72 lead over the hosts. Loyola shot 7-for-8 from the field, including 2-for-3 from the 3-point line, during that stretch, while Mejia and Seicshnaydre led the team with five each of those 21 points. William Carey regained the lead with two free throws and a jumper, 76-73, but scores by Jackson and Seicshnaydre kept Loyola within one point, 78-77, with a minute to go. William Carey got a clutch bucket down the stretch while the Wolf Pack was held scoreless to bring the game to its final.
Pack Facts
-
Leonard Jackson led the Pack with 16 points and three steals, sinking all seven of his attempts at the free throw line.
-
Milan Mejia knocked down four shots from long range to finish with 14 points, adding two blocks and a steal.
-
Braelee Albert also scored 14 points while grabbing a team-high six rebounds.
-
Reece Seicshnaydre scored in double figures for the first time this season, putting up 10 points in 14 minutes.
Subscribe to Pack Tracks, a Loyola Athletics Newsletter, for all of the latest information >> https://loyolawolfpack.com/subscribe.aspx. You can also keep up with the Pack by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.
