Loyola begins 21-22 season by setting a new school record for margin of victory

NEW ORLEANS – It didn’t take too long into the new season for the Loyola Wolf Pack to set a new school record, defeating North American University 134-56 to open their 2021-22 campaign.

The 78-point margin of victory Saturday set a new school record, eclipsing the previous record, which was set last year against NAU, by five points.

The Wolf Pack got off to a fast start, scoring their first 19 points in less than five minutes. Jalen Galloway got Loyola’s first points of the season, draining a 3-pointer 30 seconds into the game, then Zach Wrightsil and Brandon Davis quickly followed with baskets. Myles Burns cleaned up his own miss shortly after, and the Wolf Pack was off to the races from there, using a 14-0 run to extend their lead to 19-4.

Davis scored on back-to-back possessions, then Wrightsil turned a steal into a dunk to push the lead to 25-6 with 12:24 on the clock. Milan Mejia added a 3-pointer and Zach Muller scored after Davis pulled down an offensive round, extending the score to 33-9 with more than 10 minutes until halftime.

Terry Smith Jr. got in on the action, then Josh Leaney started to heat up in the final minutes of the half. The Brisbane, Australia, native scored eight points in the final couple of minutes to help the Pack go into the break with a 59-21 lead.

Loyola continued to cruise in the second half, outsourcing NAU 76-35 in the final 20 minutes. Davis started the half with five quick points and Smith added consecutive baskets to take a 69-25 lead. Andrew Fava’s first 3-pointer of the season put the Pack up by 47 points a couple of minutes later, and another 3 from Luke Ladner pushed the margin to 52 points. Cameron Dumas, Leonard Jackson, Eddie Burgess, Andrew Stagni, Josh Tolbert and Nick Phillips all made contributions down the stretch as well.

Loyola will take on cross-town rivals Xavier and Dillard next week, traveling to both on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. The Wolf Pack’s matchup with Xavier is set to start at 7 p.m., while Loyola and Dillard will tip at 6 p.m.

PACK FACTS
Loyola’s 78-point win sets a new school record for margin of victory, breaking a record set last season (73 points) against the same opponent as Saturday.

The Wolf Pack opened the season by reaching triple digits, and that happened three times last season.

A total of 17 players saw the floor Saturday and 16 of those scored for the Wolf Pack, including five in double figures.

Josh Leaney, who didn’t play last season, led Loyola with 24 points, a new career-high for the senior.

Zach Wrightsil scored 16 points, giving him 1,464 for his career. He’s now ninth all-time in Loyola’s history.

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