Pack wins back-to-back SSAC games

NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola Wolf Pack men's basketball took the lead in the opening 20 seconds and never relinquished it in Thursday's Southern States Athletic Conference contest against Point University. Loyola turned that into an 85-64 final for its second straight league win.  
 

The Wolf Pack will continue conference play when it faces Faulkner on Saturday at 2 p.m. in The Den.
 

Kameron Johnson drained Loyola's first basket of the night, then Milan Mejia sunk a triple to put the Pack ahead, 5-0. After Point got on the board, Leonard Jackson hit a 3-pointer of his own to stay up five, 8-3. Mejia had two makes at the foul line, then Julian Baldwin made a jumper to go up 12-6. Through the first ten minutes, the Pack defense held the Skyhawks to 3-for-14 shooting. After Point got back within three, 14-11, Loyola scored six straight with a Braelee Albert bucket and two Jackson jumpers, 20-11. 
 

That run continued in the final ten minutes of the first half with Reece Seicshnaydre getting on the board and Jarvis Brown knocking down a trey to put Loyola's lead in the double digits, 25-14. Soon after, a Cameron Williams dunk made him Loyola's eighth scorer of the half, then Johnson drilled a 3-pointer, 30-19. Williams' basket began a 15-4 scoring run to close the half that also included another make by the redshirt senior, three more shots from Albert and another Mejia bucket, 40-21.
 

Mejia quickly got to double figures with two 3s in 30 seconds, 48-24, but Points still started the second half well to cut the lead to 53-39 through the first five and a half minutes. The Skyhawks began the new period shooting 7-for-9, but Loyola's 5-for-9 start didn't allow the visitors to trim into the lead too much. That changed a little when Point made three straight shots to make it an 11-point game, 56-45, with 12 minutes left, though. 
 

Loyola countered with a quick 7-2 run that featured four points from Albert and a 3-pointer by Jackson, 63-47, then the Waggaman, Louisiana, native hit another 3, 66-48, near the nine-minute mark. Johnson matched his career-high 15 points he set last week with six quick points, 74-55, and a combination of Brown, Mejia and Baldwin made it a 20-point lead, 81-61, with less than four minutes to go. 
 

From there, Loyola cruised to its dominant victory. 
 

Pack Facts

• Leonard Jackson posted his second double-double at Loyola, and his first since January 2024, with 13 points, a career-high 11 rebounds, three assists, and three steals. He was 5-of-11 from the field and 3-of-5 from long range. 

• Milan Mejia also knocked down three triples, going 5-of-10 overall for 15 points, plus three assists. 

• Kameron Johnson led the squad with four assists and three steals while matching his career high with 15 points. He's had 15 points in each of the last two contests. 

• Braelee Albert put up 14 points, plus six rebounds and three assists. 

• Julian Baldwin hit four of his six shots from the field for 10 points, plus six rebounds, three assists, three steals, and two blocks. 

• All five Wolf Pack starters scored in double figures, with just Loyola's starters out-scoring Point's entire team 67-64. 

• The Pack stole the ball 13 times, setting a new team season high. 

• Loyola also had 20 assists on 34 made baskets, tying a season high for field goals made while reaching 20+ assists for the third time this season. 

Subscribe to Pack Tracks, a Loyola Athletics Newsletter, for all of the latest information >> https://loyolawolfpack.com/subscribe.aspx. You can also 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.