Loyola downs Talladega to capture NAIA National Championship

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Camron Reece, Myles Burns

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KANSAS CITY, Mo.—It may have been expected, but making history was still sweet for Loyola New Orleans.

The No. 1 seed Wolf Pack used a suffocating defense to defeat Talladega 71-56 in the championship game of the NAIA National Tournament. It was the first national championship for Loyola since 1945.

“It means everything,” Tournament MVP Myles Burns said after the game. “To make history with guys like this, with fans like this, I feel ecstatic. It’s the biggest day of my life.

“I knew I was playing hard. But I didn’t expect to get Most Valuable Player. To be recognized around my teammates is unreal.”

Teammate Zach Wrightsil, who was named NAIA National Player of the Year for the 2021-22 campaign, agreed.

“It means everything,” Wrightsil said. “It feels unbelievable to make some new history and cement ourselves in Loyola history forever.”

Burns and Wrightsil were a 1-2 punch all season, and they led the Wolf Pack with 19 points each in the title game, the fourth victory this season for Loyola over their Southern States Athletic Conference rival. The previous three victories were by a combined 25 points.

Except for a brief run midway through the second half, Loyola had firm control of this game almost from the start. Talladega used an 11-0 run to cut a 19-point deficit to 8 points early in the second half. The Tornadoes eventually got within 5 but got no closer.

“They were missing a key guy. Cameron Potts is an unbelievable player,” head coach Tracy Hollowell said of the reason for the comfortable margin. “Our kids have an unbelievable amount of passion. You cannot quantify passion. If a kid plays with passion, you’ve got something special.”

The Wolf Pack, which averaged just over 90 points per game this season, had to rely on its defense, but that was stingy enough. They held the Tornadoes to just 35.8 percent shooting from the field.

“We showed (versatility) all year,” Hollowell said. “There were teams we were able to speed up and force them to turn the ball over. There were teams that handled that well. Talladega did a great job of handling the pressure.”

Loyola, which defeated the Tornadoes three times previously, twice in the regular season and once in the conference tournament, used defense to pull away in the first half. The Wolf Pack held Talladega more than 7½ minutes without a field goal, turning an 18-15 advantage to a 36-17 lead.

The Tornadoes hit just 22.6 percent of their shots in the first half, including 2-of-16 from 3-point range.

The Wolf Pack led 36-21 at halftime, but it easily could have been larger. Loyola shot just 41.4 percent from the field and 53.8 percent from the line. Wrightsil led all scorers with 10 first-half points.

Burns and Wrightsil, both seniors, still have the opportunity to return to Loyola to defend their title because of the extra year granted by the NAIA due to Covid. Neither one was willing to comment about the future.

“Right now, I have no idea,” Wrightsil said. “I’m just going to enjoy this moment. I have nothing to say about that.”

While the players were rejoicing in making history for the school, the location of the championship was not lost on Hollowell.

“When I walk in here, I can’t help but think of John Wooden,” he said about the man who coached in this tournament before going to UCLA and winning his first national championship in this building in 1964. “I can’t help but think of James Naismith (who invented the game of basketball and was instrumental in starting the NAIA tournament).

“I can’t help but think of the guys who played on our 1945 championship team. This is unbelievable.”

Who said history is boring?

Postgame Interviews:

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