MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Stillman College's upset bid for the Southern States Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship fell short Friday afternoon, as the Tigers lost to SSAC regular season champ Loyola University of New Orleans, 70-63.
It was Stillman's fifth-straight SSAC Championship semifinal appearance and the fourth time in five years Stillman and Loyola met in the SSAC Championship semifinals.
For the second-straight game, Marcus Bates Jr posted a double-double to lead Stillman College, scoring 14 points and securing 12 rebounds. He had 29 points and 26 rebounds in the two tournament games.
Stillman flipped an eight-point deficit, 26-18, into a 19-6 run to close the first half. It began with a two-minute, 10-0 run. A Bates layup and pair of
Brenden Lankford-Johnson free throws started the run, followed by 3-pointers by
Daviyon Dennis and
Tomias Brand to give Stillman a 28-26 lead with 3:34 left in the half.
While Loyola tied it at 28 with Jalen Galloway's first basket of the game at 3:08, Bates answered with a pair of layups to push the Tigers back in front, 32-28. A
Bailey Talley basket and
Jamar Jackson 3-pointer helped push Stillman to a 37-32 halftime lead.
Khalil Johnson hit a 3 to open the second half for his first points of the game, stretching Stillman to its largest lead yet, 40-32.
Loyola pushed its way back in front, 43-42, on a Galloway dunk with 16:01 to play. It was part of a personal 7-point run by Galloway and 13-0 Loyola run that saw the Wolfpack lead grow to 48-42 with 13:43 left in the game. Ultimately, Loyola used a 24-4 run to break the game open midway in the second half, leading 59-46, with 8:52 to play.
The Tigers fought back with a 7-0 run to make it a two-possession game following a Bates offensive rebound and put-back, 61-55, with 3:53 to play. Talley hit a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left to make it a four-point game, 64-60, but Loyola's Matthew Mondesir hit two free throws and Michael Harden made four in the final 10 seconds to help seal the Wolfpack's win. Mondesir led Loyola with 19 points, including 10 in the first half. Harden finished with 14 and Galloway scored 17.
Jackson hit a 3 at the end of the game to finish with nine points. Finklea scored eight and Talley and Lankford-Johnson each had seven points.
The loss moves Stillman to 16-14 on the season, while No. 19 Loyola moves to 23-6 and will meet the winner of Faulkner and Blue Mountain Christian University in the SSAC Championship on Sunday. Loyola's win guarantees the two SSAC finalists an automatic bid to the NAIA Opening Round.
With a current five-year run of NAIA National Tournament appearances on the line, Stillman will wait to see if it is considered for one of the 27 at-large bids to the NAIA National Tournament, which begins March 7. The NAIA will announce its 64-team bracket on Thursday, March 2 at 7 p.m. CST.
