Men’s basketball improves to 7-2 after win over Dillard

NEW ORLEANS – After the Loyola University New Orleans men's basketball team lost a road game at Dillard earlier in the season, the Wolf Pack got some revenge on Tuesday with a 75-56 win over the Bleu Devils in The Den. 
 

The Pack (7-2, 1-0 in SSAC)  resumes Southern States Athletic Conference play when they travel to Blue Mountain Christian on Thursday, Dec. 4, for a 7:30 p.m. matchup. 
 

After missing its first two shots, Loyola made six of its next 10 to take a 14-7 lead after six and a half minutes of play. Kameron Johnson led the Wolf Pack with seven points during that span, and Eain Mowat hit a 3-pointer to get the Pack off to a good start. A 3 by Leonard Jackson fended off a Dillard run a couple of minutes later, and Johnson got into double figures at the 11-minute mark to give Loyola a 20-12 lead. 
 

Loyola scored just 12 points the rest of the first half, but it still led the Bleu Devils by three at the break, 32-29. Georgios Vassilakis and Reece Seicshnaydre each hit 3s, and Johnson had four more points. 
 

The Wolf Pack responded by dominating the first nine minutes of the second half, outscoring the Bleu Devils 27-8 to push ahead, 59-37. Dillard shot just 2-for-13 during that stretch, including going 0-for-4 from 3, while Loyola made five 3-point shots. 
 

A 3 by Cameron Williams in the early going made the score 37-32, then another from the senior put Loyola up 10, 46-36. Jackson and Johnson hit back-to-back 3s, and Jackson added another to extend the advantage to 22, 59-37. Vassilakis grabbed an offensive rebound and scored, and he followed that up with a 3-pointer, 64-42, with less than seven minutes to go.
 

Dillard never got its deficit down to single digits the rest of the way, as five points from Jaylen Peters and four more from Zachary Lee helped finish things off.
 

Pack Facts

• Kameron Johnson put up another monster stat line at home, leading all players in points (24), assists (5), and steals (4) with eight rebounds. The 24 points matched the second-highest scoring game of his career. He also had 24 points in last year's home game against Mobile. 

• Loyola won the rebounding battle 58-28 against the Bleu Devils. That's the best rebounding margin in a game since the opener of the 2021-22 season, Oct. 23, when the Pack led North American 65-31 in rebounding. 

• Zachary Lee was a big part of that rebounding effort, as he came down with a career-high 18 boards. That's the most in a game by a single Wolf Pack player since Jalen Galloway had 20 rebounds against Blue Mountain on Jan. 12, 2023.

• Off the bench, Jaylen Peters recorded seven points and nine boards. 

• As a team, Loyola made 11 of its 29 attempts from three-point land, marking the fourth time this season that the team has combined to make at least 10 triples in a game. 

• Leonard Jackson was one of six different players to knock down a trey, going 3-for-7 for 11 total points. Cameron Williams and Georgios Vassilakis also made multiple three-pointers.