It had been a long time since the men’s basketball team outscored an opponent by thirty or more – in fact the last time was 39 games ago when they defeated Wesley College 89-37 in 2004. In Monday night’s home opener the ‘Pack repeated history by defeating the Warriors, 86-51.
The victory that marked Loyola’s first for a season opener in over three years came just three nights after a 55-100 exhibition loss to the University of Southern Mississippi.
“We took the energy from the games against Southern Miss and Tulane and brought it out tonight,” said forward Robert Manson, marketing sophomore. “Primarily because of the hard loss to Southern Miss.”
After leading the first half 42-31, Loyola exploded in the first five minutes of the second half on a 17-7 run. The ‘Pack’s tight man-to-man coverage forced the Warriors into poor shots and high turnovers. After nearly doubling Wesley on the boards the ‘Pack took advantage of its height to score off of defensive rebounds.
In the first half Loyola started a veteran line-up and ran the new triangle offense with moderate success sealing an 11-point lead the Warriors would not breach for the rest of the night.
“They were able to penetrate,” said assistant coach Joey Steibing. “We were able to take advantage of what (the Warrior defense) was giving us.”
The game gave the ‘Pack some prospective on how they might measure in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference. In comparison with tonight’s 35-point blowout, the Warriors only lost to fellow GCAC schools, Tougaloo College and Bellhaven, by 12 and 9 points, respectively. Under second year head coach Josh Sherer, the number one-seeded team in last year’s NCCAA Div. II Championship, has improved since the 2004 match, although not enough to leave The Den with a win.
“Honestly they did a phenomenal job of running the floor,” Sherer said. “I saw some opportunities that they missed with their high/low (offense), but they did a great job.”
Shooting eighty percent Luke Zumo, psychology junior, led the ‘Pack with 24 points sinking four out of five from behind the three-point line. Torrie Beaulieu, history sophomore, powered the second quarter with 5 steals and 18 points. Mario Faranda, finance junior, contributed 20 points and seven rebounds. Nick Tuszynski, general business studies sophomore, recorded five assists and seven rebounds.
This Friday the ‘Pack plays Wiley College at 7 p.m. at The Den.
