Box Score Loyola will play in their first conference tournament final game since joining the SSAC in 2010
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Loyola University New Orleans men's basketball team has advanced to the Southern States Athletic Conference Championship final for the first time in program history after knocking off the top seed Stillman College 85-72 on Wednesday.
The Tigers (27-4, 18-4 SSAC) jumped out to a fast 11-0 start, but the Wolf Pack (20-11, 13-9 SSAC) were not discouraged, as they gradually chipped away at the deficit, with 11 first-half points coming from Zach Wrightsil. Trailing by seven with a little over a minute left in the opening period, Wrightsil found Turner for a right corner three-pointer, which he turned into a four-point play after a converted free throw. Then with time expiring, Benjamin Fields threw a cross-court pass to Turner, who once again connected on a triple as time expired, tying the score at 36-36 heading into halftime.
With momentum on their side to start the second half, Terry Smith Jr. gave the Wolf Pack their first lead of the game on a tip-in to make the score 38-37. Stillman grew its lead back to six points at 50-44 at the 13-minute mark, but the Pack seized momentum once again, opening up a 19-3 run, with free throws from Fields giving Loyola a 63-53 lead with just over seven minutes remaining.
Loyola held at least a seven-point advantage for the rest of the game, sealing the game late by going 9-9 on free throws over the final four minutes, pulling away for the 85-72 win.
The victory is the first for the Wolf Pack over the NAIA No. 5-ranked Stillman team that won two close contests earlier in the season. The win also gives Loyola its 20th win of the season, the seventh time in program history that they've reached that mark, and the first time since the 2016-17 season.
The Pack will take on the winner of Bethel and Middle Georgia State tomorrow, March 2, for the SSAC Men's Basketball Championship title at 6:30 p.m. The game will live streamed by the SSAC here.
Wolf Pack Head Coach Stacy Hollowell
On the second half comeback: "We identified where the shooters were a little bit better as we progressed through the game. Early, they were getting loose and we weren't finding where those guys were. We also made free throws today, yesterday we didn't."
On what the win means for the team: "It's amazing for us, hopefully it gives us a real shot at going to Kansas City. We've wanted to play for a championship since I've been here, and this is going to be my first opportunity to do that. I feel like we have a group of guys who have a lot of heart, passion, and competitiveness, so we'll roll out tomorrow and see how it goes for us."
On the game plan in the second half: "Stay poised. Sometimes teams can get down because they're trailing by a couple of points and give up, but our guys' game plan was really just to stay solid and do what we know we can do. We knew coming in that we could beat this team, so our game plan was just to stay focused and come out and play our game."
On when the team felt they could win: "We felt this from the beginning, because we played them in conference play twice. The first one was an overtime loss, and they were both two-point games. We knew coming in that we could beat them because it was a close game both times and we gave it up, but we knew coming into this third game that there was no chance of us losing three times in a row. We had to get this one."
On what playing for a championship means to the team: "It's big time. We're not taking any team lightly, and we're going in to win."
On what the win means to the team: "It means everything. We lost to Stillman twice in very close games. We knew that we were the underdogs coming into this game, being fourth in the conference, so the best thing was to be unselfish. A lot of the guys know that we can score at will, but we know we have to get our teammates involved because it's winner-take-all. We just came in with poise, strong and level-headed, and got the win."
On defending Stillman: "I really think Stillman is a great team. They were probably the hardest team we've played, including some of the Division I schools that we played. They have a lot of great guys that can shoot and a lot of guys that can drive. They're a really good team, and I'm very proud of them too."
Pack Facts
This was the fourth ranked win for the Wolf Pack this season, and their second over a top-10 team.
Both Zach Wrightsil and Myles Burns posted double-doubles today, their 15th and 13th of the season, respectively, which rank first and second in the SSAC.
Wrightsil led the Wolf Pack with 23 points today, moving up to fifth for the most points scored in a single season at Loyola with 592.
The freshman's 11 boards today also moved him into fifth for most in a single season, now at 266.
Burns entered the top-20 for most points in a single season today, tied for 17th with 495.
Eric Brown connected on three makes from deep and finished with 13 points, his third-straight game hitting double digits in the scoring column.
Benjamin Fields just missed a double-double off the bench against the Tigers, scoring nine points while coming down with 11 rebounds.
You can 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.
