Even with the strong presence of Wolfpack fans in Tulane’s Fogelman Arena the Green Wave won another installment of The Battle for Freret Street 89-60.

The excitement was evident as the game got closer to tip off. A few fans from Tulane had even taken the time to pitch tents and camp out in front of the arena the night before the game. A Wolfpack fan base that is not known for making its way to road games made their way across Freret Street in an attempt to take away Tulane’s home court advantage.

Before the game, the St. Charles Room played host to a pep rally to drum up excitement before the game but for the players and coaching staff The Battle of Freret Street was just another game on the schedule. “We try to treat it like any other game,” said men’s basketball team small forward and management senior Ryan Brock. He did go on to say, however that the game had an importance to the team outside of the Loyola-Tulane rivalry. “Its an important game because it’s the next game on our schedule and it’s a chance to get a play and get a win against a Division I opponent.”

Loyola did not get that win in part to Tulane’s strong defense that disrupted the offensive rhythm. Even after adjustments made by the coaching staff to the offensive approach Loyola was unable to sustain offensive pressure. “We tried to change up strategy and they were able to defend it,” said head coach Michael Giorlando. Brock also said Tulane’s defense created problems. “I give them credit,” he said when talking about Tulane’s defense that held the ‘Pack to just 29.6 percent from the field that night. “They put some pressure on us and kind of took us out of our stuff. They broke us off of what we were supposed to do and we didn’t run our offense the way we’ve been practicing.”

In addition to a lack of rhythm on offense Loyola also had its share of trouble on the defensive end. Loyola did a decent job on defense in the first half hold the Green Wave to 40.5 percent shooting. This allowed the score to remain close with Tulane going into the half with a 39-28 lead. In the second half with Tulane pushing the lead to as big as 30 the Wolfpack defense faltered allowing Tulane to shoot 65.6 percent from the floor. “It sort of got out of control and we tried to slow things down by [full court] pressing them,” said Giorlando. Brock also commented on Loyola’s defensive struggles saying, “[in the first half] we were getting stops on the defensive end but the game kind of got away from us in the second half when weren’t getting enough stops.”

Despite the team’s one-sided loss Giorlando had some good things to say about his team. When talking about the bright spots in the game he said, “We play hard and unfortunately they shot the ball very, very well. Our kids didn’t quit until the end.” While looking at the stat sheet, Giorlando said he was pleased that his team did a better job ball handling and getting two more steals than Tulane.

The Wolfpack’s energy level on the court didn’t drop even when they were down late in second half and the game was out of reach and the Wolfpack cheering section matched their team’s energy. Even with a Loyola cheering section that remained loud throughout the game, Loyola was no match for their NCAA Division opponent. Brock said he was disappointed to lose a game with that much excitement surrounding it but said the fan presence was strongly felt. “The support of the students from school brings an extra boost of energy to us. We kind of fed off that,” he said “But I was kind of upset we let them down.”

In addition to the loss general studies business freshman Anthony Miles injured his ankle late in the game. He was slow to get up and needed assistance to walk off the court. The guard played only five minutes hitting only one three pointer.

The ‘Pack hope see the return of the strong fan support and Miles for their next game Nov. 13 against St. Thomas University.

Hasani Grayson can be reached at [email protected]