Facing a team averaging nearly 82 points per game, the Wolfpack knew the defense was in for a serious test.
Mission accomplished.
Led by a great team effort to force 27 turnovers, Loyola defeated Wiley College 65-56 in The Den Thursday night.
With the score knotted at 52, history sophomore Torry Beaulieu made a jumper to spark a 13-4 run to make the final tally.
Strong post play from finance junior Mario Faranda paced the Wolfpack’s offense, leading the team in total points with 14 and crashing the boards with six rebounds.
General business freshman Nick Tuszynski also stepped up nicely, getting nine boards and adding nine points. Coach Dr. Michael Giorlando was satisfied with the team’s effort down low.
“We’re very pleased we won tonight, that’s our objective. First three games, we couldn’t finish the game, but today we put together two good halves. Our defense held the team down well below their scoring average, and we did a better job of keeping the other team’s offensive rebounds down.”
General business freshman guard Sean Bennett is proud of the team’s coming back after a seven-point deficit during the first half.
“It feels good to get my first college win, we could have played a lot better, so we still have a lot of improvement to do, but the game plan we had today allowed us to pull out the win.”
In the first half, Loyola trailed by as much as seven points with Wiley’s Pierre Johnson converting one of two free throws with 7:55 remaining in the half.
Loyola scored 10 unanswered points over the next 2:30, capped by a jumper by marketing freshman McArthur Strickland.
Bennett posted 11 points, tallying the first double-digit score of his college career, and the Wolfpack had a balanced scoring attack, with six players scoring 9 or more points.
The star of the night proved to be Farnada, putting in work in the post despite attracting double and triple teams, and Giorlando was extremely happy with his effort.
“I can’t say enough about Mario. He is starting to figure out pressure with double teams, which led to him shooting 60 percent from the floor.”
With the win, Loyola improves to 1-1 on the young season, with a Sunday afternoon tilt against NCAA Division I foe Troy University. Building off the win, Coach Giorlando is confident of his team building a winning mentality in non-conference games.
“We can go eight or nine deep and not have a significant drop in the level of play. I feel that as a team we are putting together the pieces of the puzzle. Our team chemistry is strong, and that will take us a long way.”
Octavious Bailey was the only double figure scorer for Wiley with ten points.
Harold Kuntz can be reached at [email protected].
