NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola Wolf Pack men's basketball team drained 14 3-pointers in Monday's non-conference game with the SUNO Knights, defeating their cross-town counterparts by 35, 96-61, in The Den.
The win moves Loyola to 11-2 overall, and it'll put its 3-0 SSAC record to the test with two Southern States Athletic Conference match ups this week. First, the Wolf Pack will host Mobile at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, then they'll welcome Faulkner to The Den for a 2 p.m. tip on Saturday.
The Wolf Pack used a 54-point first half to pull away from the Knights quickly. The hot start in the first half was powered by 21-of-37 shooting for the Wolf Pack, including 7-for-17 from 3, while SUNO was 8-for-30 from the field and 1-of-9 from beyond the arc.
Scores by Reece Seicshnaydre, Kosta Bjelicic and Cameron Williams, and a 3-pointer from Kameron Johnson gave Loyola its first nine points of the game. Still, the visitors only trailed 9-8 three-plus minutes into the contest. Loyola started a 21-6 run after that, though, which saw its lead balloon to 30-14 at the halfway point of the first half. Seicshnaydre started it all with a 3, then Leonard Jackson followed that up with three 3s of his own. Jaylen Peters and Georgios Vassilakis both scored their first points to finish off the run.
The Wolf Pack kept pushing the pedal by closing out the final 10 minutes of the half with a 24-8 run. Vassilakis scored seven straight for Loyola, 39-15, and Bjelicic had back-to-back made shots, 43-17. Williams converted an old-fashioned 3-point play, 46-20, before Jackson finished the half with a bang, hitting two more 3-pointers in a 24-second span. The Pack held the commanding 54-22 lead at the break.
SUNO had a better shooting half in the second, but it still wasn't enough to keep up with the Wolf Pack. They outscored the Knights 42-39 in the final 20 minutes, with 11 players in the scoring column, which is three more than SUNO had dressing out for the game. Cayden Branch, Troy Thomas and Quinton Hairston each scored their first points of the game in the second, and Hairston, along with Vassilakis, led the team with eight second-half points.
Pack Facts
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Leonard Jackson set a new career high for three-pointers in a game, going 7-for-11 from distance. He also made a pair of free throws to bring him to 23 points, which matched a career best. His seven threes were the most in a game for any Wolf Pack player since Andrew Fava had seven in the Pack's 121-69 win against Faulkner on Feb. 5, 2022.
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Jackson was part of a huge three-point shooting effort by Loyola. The team combined to sink 14 triples, which ties the most threes in a game this season. Quinton Hairston and Cayden Branch each connected for their first threes of the year.
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Georgios Vassilakis posted his first collegiate double-double, going 8-of-11 from the field while also grabbing 10 rebounds. Vassilakis has scored 17 points in each of the Pack's last two games.
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Reece Seicshnaydre was the third Wolf Pack player in double figures, putting up 11 points with four rebounds and two assists.
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Kameron Johnson's team-high eight dimes were a part of the Wolf Pack registering 32 assists as a team, marking the most assists in a game for the Pack this season.
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Loyola also had a massive advantage in the rebounding battle, out-rebounding SUNO 59-32. It's the fourth time this season that the Wolf Pack's rebounding margin has been 20 or more. Vassilakis and Kosta Bjelicic tied for the team high with 10 rebounds apiece.
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