Halftime lead not enough; Pilots lose to Loyola, 65-63
01/10/04

The LSUS Pilots faced off against the Loyola Wolfpack of New Orleans Saturday afternoon looking to improve their Gulf Coast Athletic Conference record to 3-1 on the year. At the conclusion of the first half, the Pilots had dominated the game and had a 36-17 lead.

In the second half, however, it was the Wolfpack who took control of the scoring and the lead with three minutes remaining in the contest. Each team made some defensive stands in the final minutes, including the forced turnover by Loyola with 14 seconds. Loyola found themselves down 63-62 with 9 seconds on the game clock when Zach Thomas was fouled and went to the free-throw line for two shots. Thomas made both shots and gave Loyola a one point lead.

After a timeout by head coach Chad McDowell, the Pilots failed to score on their possession and were forced to foul, sending Loyola to the line with one second left in the game. One of two from the line gave Loyola a two-point margin, but the Pilots were unable to get off a shot to tie or win.

Fredericko Payne finished with a game high 22 points in the losing effort for the Pilots. Travis Cash pitched in with 14 points and 7 rebounds. Daniel Schmidt led the Wolfpack with 17 points.

The Pilots fell to 8-7 on the year, 2-2 in conference play. The Pilots take the floor again Monday night against Dilliard University in New Orleans at 7:30 p.m.

Issued by Allan Cantwell (sports@lsus.edu)