NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola University New Orleans men's basketball team needed four overtimes, but the Wolf Pack eventually prevailed over their cross-town rivals Xavier, 110-102, in The Den on Tuesday. It was the first of two matchups between the Pack and the Gold Rush, and the two will meet again on Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 7:30 p.m. in the XULA Convocation Center.
Loyola will be on the road for the next couple of weeks, as its next home game will be against Dillard on Tuesday, Nov. 25, at 7:30 p.m. Before then, the Pack will travel to SUNO, Louisiana Christian, No. 13 LSU Alexandria, Xavier, and William Carey for five consecutive road contests.
Kosta Bjelicic scored six of Loyola's first nine points, as the Wolf Pack got off to a 9-0 start with the addition of a 3-pointer by Zachary Lee. Loyola's defense held the Gold Rush to 1-of-9 shooting through the first five-plus minutes of play, which helped build a 12-3 lead. Bjelicic's point total was nine by that point. Xavier, however, made four of its next five shots to tie the game at 12-all with 12 minutes until halftime.
It ended up being a 14-0 run for the Gold Rush, giving them a 17-12 lead with 8:30 left until halftime. Georgios Vassilakis got the Pack out of the drought, 17-14, but Xavier was able to extend its advantage to 25-16 by the third and final media timeout of the first half (4:56). The lead eventually climbed to 12, 28-16, with four minutes left until the break, but the Pack closed the first half on an 11-2 run to cut the deficit to three, 30-27. Reece Seicshnaydre hit a 3 during that stretch, and Lee, Bjelicic, Kameron Johnson, and Jaylen Peters all added two points each.
Loyola got the second half started with a bang, getting two 3s from Cameron Williams and Seicshnaydre to flip the lead, 33-31, in the first two minutes. Johnson made a tough jumper and Williams hit two free throws to extend Loyola's lead to five, 37-32. Xavier used another run, this time a 15-3 spurt, over the course of five-plus minutes to jump back ahead, 47-40. A Williams put-back after he missed a 3 made it a 48-42 game near the halfway point of the second half.
Johnson converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to cut it five, 50-45, a minute later, but back-to-back made shots for the Gold Rush brought their lead out to nine, 54-45. Lee scored five quick points, and Peters had a tough bucket in the paint to give the Wolf Pack some momentum. After Peters made a free throw, Johnson got the Pack to within a possession, 58-56, with a lay-in at the five-minute mark.
Seicshnaydre tied the game with a 3 in the corner a minute later, 59-59, but Xavier scored six straight to push the advantage back out to multiple possessions, 65-59, with less than two minutes left in the game. Johnson did his best to keep the score close with three points, 68-62, then Lee kissed a 3 off the glass, 68-65, with 53 seconds left.
After a missed shot on Xavier's end of the floor, Johnson made two free throws, 68-67, with 10 seconds left. The Gold Rush went 1-for-2 from the free throw, 69-67, then it fouled Johnson, who made both of his free throws to tie, 69-69, with 5.7 seconds left. Xavier missed their last-second shot to send it to overtime.
Xavier got on the board first in the extra period, but Seicshnaydre gave the Pack the 72-71 lead with another 3 in the corner. Seicshnaydre then found Lee in the paint to make it a three-point game halfway through the overtime frame. Xavier answered with a 3 on its next trip down the floor, 74-74, and it made two free throws on its next possession to change the lead once again. Lee tied it, 76-76, with less than a minute on the clock, as neither team was able to break the tie to send the game into second overtime.
Both teams were held scoreless for the first two-plus minutes, and that ended when Xavier completed an and-1 opportunity, 79-76. After the Gold Rush went up five, Johnson got his own rebound for a lay-in, then made a 3 to tie it with 47 seconds left, 81-81. Both teams made two free throws to bring the game into a third overtime.
The two teams traded free throws to start the third overtime, but the Gold Rush took a three-point lead, 89-86, with a field goal and two free throws with more than three minutes to go. Johnson scored on Loyola's next two trips down the floor to put Loyola back on top, 90-89, then the junior scored again to keep changing the lead to the Wolf Pack, 92-91. After the Gold Rush went up again, 93-92, Vassilakis brought down the house with a 3-pointer, 95-93, with 30 seconds remaining. Xavier tied it with two free throws, and Loyola wasn't able to make a game-winning shot to send the game into a fourth overtime.
Johnson continued to have the hot hand with the period's first score, which was followed by a Xavier score to tie it once again, 97-97. Leonard Jackson made his first field goal of the night, which was a 3 from the top of the key, putting Loyola at the century mark, 100-97. Johnson made one free throw on Loyola's next possession to keep it a three-point lead, then Williams made a mid-range jumper to give Loyola its first multi-possession lead since early in the second half. Williams made it an eight-point lead with a 3 in the corner, 106-98, then Williams rejected a Xavier fastbreak try at the 1:00 mark. From there, it was a free-throw game, as the Wolf Pack made enough to win the game.
Pack Facts
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Loyola's 110 points were the most scored by the team since March 11, 2022, when the Pack won 119-82 in the opening round of the NAIA National Championship.
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Kameron Johnson took over in the second half, scoring 15 of his career-high 33 points in the second 20 minutes. He also scored 11 between the four overtime periods. The Wolf Pack point guard made 11 shots from the field and 10 at the line.
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Playing a game-high 59 minutes, Johnson filled up the box score, tallying his first collegiate double-double with 12 assists, plus eight rebounds, five steals, and a block.
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Zachary Lee also notched a double-double, his fifth at Loyola, after putting up 20 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. His 12 boards matched a career high.
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Cameron Williams secured the third double-double of his Wolf Pack career late in the game with a dagger three, finishing with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and two blocks.
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Kosta Bjelicic neared a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds, plus three steals.
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Reece Seicshnaydre hit a career-high four shots from downtown, going 4-of-5 from deep for 12 points, plus four rebounds and three steals.
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