Southern University-New Orleans’ men’s and women’s basketball teams hit the Wolfpack with a one-two combination of tightly contested losses on Loyola’s opening night for GCAC play in a humid, suffocating atmosphere in Delgado’s cramped Wilkinson Center on Jan. 4.

Psychology sophomore guard Trenese Smith’s 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting and psychology pre-med senior center Kimberly Rigg’s 14 points and 12 rebounds weren’t enough for coach DoBee Plaisance’s Lady Wolfpack (6-7, 0-1 GCAC) to offset a 55-51 loss.

Meanwhile, accounting senior guard James Bunn’s inspired 17-point performance that catalyzed a 10-point second half comeback for the men (3-8. 0-1 GCAC) to briefly seize the lead fell barely begging in a 69-64 loss to SUNO (both teams 1-0 in GCAC).

“Poor rebounding, poor defense. We didn’t come out strong,” Bunn said, referring to a sluggish start that Giorlando concedes ultimately cost the men their tilt.

“We had a chance to come away with the game, and we even took the lead there at the end. But give them credit – they hit a shot, got a stop and then hit their free throws to put it out of reach,” Giorlando said.

Plaisance, visibly rattled by her team’s close loss in the conference opener, added about the women, “The way we played tonight is not indicative of our abilities as a team. But we missed 10 lay-ups in a span of eight minutes – you can’t do that at this level.”

A CALL TO STEP IT UP

Plaisance self-flagellated on what unfolded in her team’s 55-51 loss standing alongside bleachers glazed over with humidity. “It’s my job that we pick up the intensity in practice. The turnovers tonight were unacceptable.”

While they forced SUNO into 25 turnovers, led by mass communication senior guard Kiely Schork’s three steals (she finished with five points on two-of-six shooting), Loyola still coughed possession up 27 times on the night.

Trenese Smith, however, didn’t miss a beat in her scoring ways – she rolled lucky sevens against SUNO, connecting on seven-of-14 field goals and seven-of-11 free throws.

Plaisance interjected in her assessment of the Smith twin’s play a call for her team to step it up the remainder of the conference schedule. “Trenese is playing hard for us – giving it her all, putting up big numbers. But, everybody needs to step it up more, whether you’re our leading scorer or not playing so much, everyone has got to step it up.”

UNRAVELED AT THE END

The court’s grandstands were mired in a jungle-like haze of sweltering must and humidity, with perhaps the only thing more heated as the Wolfpack quickly fell behind 18-7 midway through the first period being coach Michael Giorlando’s temper.

Bunn had just snagged an errant pass for a steal but badly missed the breakaway finish on the other end of the court as a SUNO defender altered his shot via body contact.

“Finish the play! If you get fouled, you get fouled,” Giorlando barked at Bunn. After SUNO scored on the ensuing advance up-court, Giorlando called a timeout and vocally tore into his huddled squad.

He chalked up a play that found Bunn firing a beautifully released, rainbowed jumper that careened off the front rim; but the message Giorlando had tried to send to his team went through as clear as daylight.

Bunn riddled off his next three three-point attempts in ice cold succession, hitting the last one with 25 seconds to go to close the gap to 40-33 before SUNO managed a buzzer-beating basket.

Bunn would go on to amass five three-pointers on seven attempts, all coming on his first five shots.

“I was feeling fine – just kept my balance and knocked them down,” he explained.

Mostly because of Bunn’s perimeter sniping and finance junior forward Mario Faranda’s (13 points on four-of-six shooting, eight rebounds) finishing in the paint, Loyola entered halftime facing a manageable deficit.

With all systems go, the Wolfpack roared back to be down by a mere 52-49 deficit after general business freshman forward Nick Tuszynski (four points, three rebounds) collected a long rebound and quarterbacked a pass to psychology junior guard Luke Zumo.

Zumo – he finished with 12 points mostly from the charity stripe (seven-of-nine free thows) – with his back to the basket bounced a pass to Bunn, wheeling down the sideline. Bunn, pulling up in-stride, buried his fourth three-pointer and pulled Loyola to within three.

From there, marketing freshman forward McArthur “Fruga” Strickland turned in a nine-minute performance that altered the course of the game and eventually catapulted Loyola to the lead.

Strickland connected a tricky jumper from about 12 feet out to keep Loyola within a 58-53 margin; set up the screen around which history sophomore guard Torry Beaulieu (six points on three-of-five shooting) maneuvered to open up a kilometric jump shot that pulled Loyola within one at 58-57; and later tipped in a missed lay-up to secure Loyola its biggest lead of the game (62-59).

Defensively, Strickland collected a missed SUNO three-pointer in swatting traffic and set up a possession that Faranda topped off with a finish off the glass to keep Loyola ahead at 64-61 with 2:02.

“He got some big defensive stops for us and had some nice shots that either took the lead or kept it close,” Giorlando said. “He did an outstanding job rebounding – he got five rebounds in nine minutes of play.”

That basket, unfortunately, was Loyola’s last.

SUNO stormed back to a 67-64 lead with 23 seconds left. Giorlando sent the ‘Pack out after a timeout with a play chalked out that would have Bunn’s hot hands tossing up a buzzer-beating, tying shot.

“I got confused on what my position was, and we had to scramble towards a shot,” Bunn said about a broken play that ended up with Beaulieu lunging up a desperation three-pointer that clunked the front-iron.

From there, SUNO’s Marquis Harris (10 points, seven rebounds) put the game out of reach with a pair of free throws after Loyola’s intentional fouls.

SUNO tallied a scorching five scorers in double figures, led by Kevin Thomas’ game-high 22 points on 10-of-17 shooting and 8 rebounds.

UP NEXT: William Carey at The Den. Tip-off for women at 5 p.m. Men at 7 p.m.

Ramon Vargas can be reached at [email protected].

Wolfpack post-man Mario Faranda rips down a rebound as a SUNO post player swats at him. Faranda finished with 13 points. (Steve Kashishian)

McArthur Strickland drives on a SUNO defender on Jan. 4 at the Wilkinson Center at Delgado University’s campus. Strickland played just nine minutes but a pair of baskets and big rebounds helped catapult Loyola to the lead briefly in the second half. (Steve Kashishian)