#12 GENERALS HAND #8 LOYOLA FIRST HOME LOSS
New Orleans, La. – For the second time this season, the #12 LSUA men’s basketball team traveled to take on a top-10 ranked team in the NAIA Division I, and for the second time this season the Generals came out on top, using a pair of big runs to overcome #8 Loyola with a 91-84 win to hand the Wolf Pack their first home loss of the season Tuesday afternoon at The Den.
| W-L | TEAM | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12-3 | #12 LSU Alexandria (La.) | 42 | 49 | 91 |
| 11-2 | #8 Loyola (La.) | 43 | 41 | 84 |
How It Happened:
The Generals didn’t get off to the best of starts, finding themselves down eight points several times during the first ten minutes. However, while trailing 24-16, Jordan Adebutu hit a pair of free throws that kicked off the first of the big runs as LSUA scored 12 straight to take a 28-24 lead off of a Chris Vickers old-fashioned three-point play with nine minutes left in the first period. That run eventually extended out to a 23-5 Generals push as a JR Adams pull up three-pointer gave LSUA the first double-digit lead for either team at 39-29. But Loyola used a run of its own, scoring 11 straight to retake the lead. After Montrey Thomas, Jr. scored right before the buzzer, Loyola lead 43-42 at the break. The key LSUA run came to start the second half as Brandon Ellis hit a mid-range jump shot on the first possession of the period to put the Generals in front to stay. That kicked off a 9-0 run to start the second half by LSUA, culminating with a jumper by Anthony Stove that gave the Generals a 51-43 lead with 17:30 left in the game. Loyola was able to pull the LSUA lead down, and had several chances to retake the lead, but each time the Generals had an answer. The game was finally put away with a 12-4 LSUA run that turned a 77-74 Generals lead into an 11-point lead as Jordan Adebutu‘s three put the dagger in the Wolf Pack, giving LSUA an 89-78 advantage with just seconds remaining in the contest.
Coach’s Take:
“Today was a true team win on the road against a talented and well coached team,” said LSUA head coach Larry Cordaro. “We demanded a special effort from the players today and they brought it for all 40 minutes today. The start wasn’t what we wanted and we had a few tough calls go against us, but our guys were resilient and stayed the course to come out with the win. I thought Loyola did a good job forcing us away from our strengths a bit, including running us off of three-point shots, but we did a good job taking advantage of some other things that opened up instead. This was a good win against a good team that should end up in Kansas City again.”
Other Key Statistics:
Jr. G Jordan Adebutu led the Generals attack, hitting six of ten from the field, including three of four from deep, to come off the bench for a team-high 19 points.
Sr. F Chris Vickers picked up his team-leading seventh double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Following this game, he stands just 30 points away from becoming the fifth Generals player to hit 1,000 career points scored.
Sr. G Montrey Thomas, Jr. added 12 points off the bench for the Generals in the win.
Sr. G Anthony Stove and Sr. F Trent Brinkley each added 11 points with Brinkley also grabbing five rebounds.
Jr. G Brandon Ellis rounded out the leading scorers with ten points while also dishing out a team-high five assists.
The Generals shot exceptionally well from the field, hitting above 55% in both halves and finished the game at 56.3% (36/64) shooting. LSUA was 41.2% (7/17) from long range and 70.6% (12/17) from the free throw line.
#8 Loyola finished the game hitting 46.6% (27/58) overall, 36.0% (9/25) from three, and 65.6% (21/32) from the charity stripe.
Depth played a major part in LSUA coming out with the win, as the Generals reserves outscored Loyola’s bench players 48-15.
Today’s game was LSUA’s third against a NAIA Top 10 ranked opponent, having won at home against then #7 William Carey in the season opener and then last month defeated then #8 Talladega on the road.
Next Game:
The #12 Generals (12-3, 4-0 RRAC) have one more tough game to play before the holiday break, heading to Hattiesburg on Saturday looking for the home-and-home season series sweep of William Carey. LSUA opened the season with an 83-66 win over the Crusaders at The Fort on October 30th. Tip-off of Saturday’s game against the Crusaders (8-4, 0-2 SSAC) is set for 2:00 P.M. at Steve Knight Court at Clinton Gymnasium.
