MONTGOMERY, Ala. – It's postseason time for the Loyola University New Orleans men's basketball team, and the Wolf Pack is gearing up for this week's Southern States Athletic Conference Championship tournament. As the West 5 seed, they're slated to open the tournament on Wednesday at 10:45 a.m. against the East 4 seed Thomas University in first-round action.
The tournament is held at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama. The Pack is seeking their fourth straight SSAC Championship title, possessing a 10-game winning streak at the tournament. Loyola is the only team in SSAC Men's Basketball Championship history to win three straight titles, and last year the Pack became the only team in tournament history to win four games in four days.
Loyola (12-15, 8-9) beat the Night Hawks on the road, 74-65, in the only matchup of the season. Thomas went 16-12 overall and had a 9-9 mark in the SSAC this season.
Loyola had an season-opening win against SUNO before facing a gauntlet of four straight teams ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25. The Pack won the program's 1,000th all-time win in December, and kept their head above water in SSAC play before its red-hot finish to the campaign. After the up-and-down regular season, the Wolf Pack closed strong with four straight wins - three of those being against teams either ranked in the NAIA Top 25 or receiving votes in the national poll. The Pack took down (RV) Mobile, No. 17 Dalton State, Dillard and (RV) William Carey over a two-week span entering the SSAC tournament.
Milan Mejia (12 pts/g), Braelee Albert (11.5) and Kosta Bjelicic (10.7) all averaged in double figures during the regular season, and Leonard Jackson (9.2), Kameron Johnson (8.5), Cameron Williams (7.4) and Jarvis Brown (7.2) all contribute in scoring regularly for the Wolf Pack. Albert, who earned SSAC Championship All-Tournament honors last season, leads the team in rebounds per game (5.6 reb/g). Johnson leads in assists (4.6), and Mejia leads in steals (1.8), with that guard duo both ranking in the top 10 in the conference in steals per game.
SSAC Men's Basketball Championship Schedule
WATCH | LIVE STATS | TICKETS
Wednesday, Feb. 26 at the Multiplex:
Game 1 | 10:45a | E4 Thomas v. W5 Loyola
Game 2 | 2:15p | W4 UT Southern v. E5 Brewton-Parker
Thursday, Feb. 27 at the Multiplex:
Game 3 | 10:45a | E2 Life vs. W3 William Carey
Game 4 | 2:15p | Winner of Game 1 vs. W1 Mobile
Game 5 | 6:15p | Winner of Game 2 vs. E1 Dalton State
Game 6 | 9:45p | W2 Faulkner v. E3 Middle Georgia
Friday, Feb. 28 at the Multiplex:
Game 7 | 3:00p | Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4
Game 8 | 7:00p | Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6
Saturday, Mar. 1 at the Multiplex:
Championship Game | 6:30p
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