Falcons Disastrous Second Half Leads to Downfall

The Falcons led by 15 at the half, 48-33. After halftime, Loyola went on a 23-8 run in the first 6:30 of the second half to tie the game at 56. The teams would change leads and eventually the last tie would be at 78-78 with 4:43 left after a Myles Burns dunk. Loyola used an 8-2 run from that point, including back to back three's made by Ethan Turner. The Falcons would never regain the lead from that point.

The second half was a completely different basketball game. The Wolfpack opened up the half with 5 perimeter players and played the rest of the game that way. They repeatedly drove to the rim with success. Foul trouble and offensive rebounds also plagued the Falcons all game long. The Wolfpack scored 63 points in the second half and won the half by 22 points. The 63 points allowed in the second half is the most by the Falcons all season and is also the highest total allowed in a half in the NAIA era.

Stefan Nakic-Vojnovic had a stellar game, putting up 22 points (one point shy of tying his career-high) and grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds to earn the double-double. Matt Simpson extended his double-figure scoring streak to 10 games (longest active streak on the team). Simpson poured in 18 points in just over 20 minutes. Andrew Voss put up 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting in just 15 minutes played. Voss picked up his fourth foul with 18:37 left in the second half. Jacob Roark knocked in 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting. Bryce Nickels added a respectable 10 points and 5 rebounds on 4-of-9 shooting in just under 12 minutes played.

The Falcons drop to (11-9, 5-7 SSAC) and head to Hattiesburg, Miss. to take on the Crusaders of William Carey University. WCU is the top team in the SSAC, currently sitting at 11-1 in conference. The Crusaders won the first meeting in Temple Terrace.

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