(RV) Wolf Pack takes down Thomas Saturday

NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola Wolf Pack men's basketball team earned an 88-62 win over Thomas University (Ga.) on Saturday, and it moved their record to 19-5 overall and 11-3 in SSAC play. Loyola is still one game behind William Carey for first place in the SSAC West Division, and it remains tied with Faulkner in second. 
 

The Pack is back in action on Thursday at Mobile for a 7:30 p.m. matchup, then they'll head to Montgomery, Alabama, for a 2 p.m. game with Faulkner on Saturday. 
 

Loyola and the Nighthawks played a close first 10 minutes of the game, as the score read 20-20 with 10:26 left until halftime. A dunk by Zachary Lee and a 3-pointer by Leonard Jackson put the Pack on top, 7-4, early, then four points from Cameron Johnson made the score 12-8 after the first five minutes of play. Kosta Bjelicic and Williams scored again, but Thomas made a little run to get within one, 16-15. Scores by Georgios Vassilakis and Kameron Johnson helped bring the game to a 20-all tie. 
 

The  Wolf Pack dominated the rest of the half to take a 43-30 lead by halftime. Johnson started a 12-0 run for Loyola with a four-point play after a made 3, and Jackson added four points from the free throw line to take a 32-20 lead with six-plus minutes left until the break. Lee scored four points down the stretch, and Reece Seicshnaydre added a 3 to bring the game to its halftime score. 
 

Johnson scored back-to-back buckets to start the second half and push the advantage to 17, 47-30, then a 3-pointer by Jackson capped off a 13-5 run to start the new period and give the Wolf Pack a 56-35 lead. Jaylen Peters started to get hot, scoring eight points in four minutes to give Loyola a 25-point lead, 71-46, with less than 10 minutes left. 
 

From there, Loyola kept that 20-plus-point cushion from Thomas, getting points from six different scorers, including Dominic Brown, Williams, Seicshnaydre, Lee, Peters and Bjelicic
 

Pack Facts

• Every starter scored at least 10 points for the Wolf Pack, led by Kameron Johnson's game-high 16 points. Jaylen Peters also hit 10 points, making it six in double figures. 

• Johnson also had four assists and four rebounds. His 149 assists this season are the second-most in any season in program history. 

• Cameron Williams was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, complete with a few highlight dunks, for a season-high 14 points. 

• Kosta Bjelicic also put up a perfect field goal percentage while going 6-for-6 from the field. He finished with 13 points, five rebounds, and four assists.

• Zachary Lee led the game in assists with eight while also contributing 11 points and five rebounds. It was his third game this season with at least eight dimes. 

• Leonard Jackson kept up his double-digit scoring streak with an even 10 points and now has scored at least 10 in 16 consecutive games. 

• Off the bench, Reece Seicshnaydre filled up the box score with nine points, making half of his six attempts from distance, while also putting up six rebounds, five assists, and a steal. 

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