HENDERSON, Tenn. – The Loyola University New Orleans men's basketball team saw its hot streak come to an end on Friday, as the 16th-seeded Wolf Pack lost their matchup to No. 1 Freed-Hardeman in the first round of the NAIA National Championship.
Loyola won seven straight, including four at the Southern States Athletic Conference Championship to earn an at-large bid into the national tournament, and its season ended with a 14-18 overall record.
Zachary Lee and Julian Baldwin kept the Wolf Pack close to the Lions in the early going of the game, 7-6, and a couple of 3-pointers by Milan Mejia and Braelee Albert put Loyola on top, 12-11, eight minutes into the game. After FHU pushed ahead 17-12, scores by Lee and Baldwin brought the Pack back to one possession, 19-16, with five minutes until halftime.
Albert matched a Freed-Hardeman 3-pointer, 22-19, but the hosts ended the first half on a 9-0 run to go into the break up by 12, 31-19.
Mejia got the scoring started for the Wolf Pack in the second half with one from long-range, 33-22, and scores by Alex Hammond and Baldwin were sandwiched between an FHU 3-pointer, 38-26, three minutes into the half. Kameron Johnson got his first points, which was a 3-pointer at the 15-minute mark, 42-29. Then, Albert brought it back to single digits with another 3, 43-34, two minutes later. FHU, though, scored seven of the game's next nine points to take a 14-point lead near the halfway point.
Johnson ended that run with a 3, but again, the Lions scored eight straight to push their advantage to 19, 58-39. From there, FHU kept the sizable lead over Loyola, as Baldwin led the Pack down the stretch with six more points while Mejia and Eddie Burgess contributed four each.
Pack Facts
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Braelee Albert knocked down four three-pointers to finish the game with 12 points, plus team highs of six rebounds, four steals, and a block.
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Julian Baldwin also had 12 points, shooting 6-of-9 from the field.
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Milan Mejia, who had nine points, and Kameron Johnson, who had seven, each hit a pair of three-pointers.
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Mejia ends the season with 81 triples, the ninth-most in a season by any player in program history. He is also seventh in career threes with 190 and tied for 10th in career steals with 131.
2024 NAIA National Championship First & Second Rounds
Friday, March 15 - Friday Round
Game 1 | #8 Point Park 84, #9 Texas College 71
Game 2 | #1 Freed-Hardeman 79, #16 Loyola 56
Saturday, March 16 - Second Round
Game 3 | 4 p.m. | #8 Point Park vs. #1 Freed-Hardeman
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