After defeating Belhaven in the Den on Feb. 22, the men’s basketball team tirelessly tried to end the season on a positive note. It was almost successful.
Two days later, the ‘Pack took on hated rival Spring Hill, whom it had played closely in their first meeting.
Business sophomore Zach Tyson scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Management sophomore Chad Barnes added 15 points.
The rest of the team, however, had 25 points combined in the 71-57 loss.
In the final home game of the season on Feb. 27, Loyola nearly took out third-ranked SUNO.
“We got blown out in our first game against them (117-74), but we were down four with the ball with under a minute to play,” said head coach Jerry Hernandez. “I told the guys, ‘You’ve got to know you can beat any team in this conference.'”
Loyola actually made more field goals, but SUNO pulled out a 94-86 victory with superior free-throw shooting. The ‘Pack was only two-of-five in the second half, while the Knights were 19-of-26.
Marketing freshman James Olivard made for a formidable inside presence, muscling his way to 17 points off the bench; he also grabbed a game-high four offensive rebounds.
Barnes led all scorers with 29 points. In the process, he broke the Loyola single-season scoring record, previously held by Charley Powell, who had 651 points in 1967-68.
Two days later, the men were in Hattiesburg to face William Carey in the regular season finale.
Matt Truax led all scorers with 24 points, going four-for-eight on three-point attempts. Barnes added to his record, going for 15 points.
But it was not enough, as the Crusaders squeezed out a 79-75 victory.
Despite outscoring William Carey in the second half, the ‘Pack made only 25 percent of its three-point attempts.
Still, Loyola had its chances.
“We were down one with about 16 seconds left. We were on a fast break and missed a wide-open shot,” Hernandez said. “And this is a team (William Carey) that finished second in the conference.”
Olivard added 10 points in only 15 minutes of play. Economics junior Mike Senna had a game-high four blocked shots and 10 points of his own.
In the play-in game at the GCAC tournament, Loyola took on the same Belhaven team it had beaten just a week earlier.
But Belhaven quickly took charge of the game, played at the Alario Center in Westwego.
The Blazers took a 52-31 lead into the half.
Loyola cut the lead all the way to six in the closing minutes, then forced Belhaven into a shot-clock violation.
But the ‘Pack missed the next shot, and the referees overlooked a hard foul on Barnes as he went for the rebound. Loyola was forced to foul, and the Blazers converted the two free throws to put it away. Loyola’s season ended with an 80-73 loss.
“I saw the Belhaven coach a couple days later and he said if the game had been a minute or two longer, we would have won,” Hernandez said.
“It was typical that we were close at the end. All of a sudden, something happens, and that’s the game. Maybe that won’t happen next year.”
With a game-high 30 points, Barnes brought finished his record season with 690 points. With 98 three-pointers on the season, he finished second in Loyola history behind Mack Doby’s 120 in 2000-01.
Barnes won the GCAC scoring title (21.6 ppg), finished third in the conference in rebounds (6.9 per game), and led the conference in three-point field-goal percentage (43 percent). In the NAIA overall, Barnes finished the regular season fourth in scoring.
“He should be the player of the year,” Hernandez said.
