MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The University of Tennessee Southern men's basketball team's run for a Southern States Athletic Conference Championship sweep fell short in a 51-48 to Loyola on Saturday. Kendall Wright and Malik Tyson led the Firehawks with double digit performances. Tyson scored 12 points and Wright added 11.

#12 UT Southern (25-6) swapped baskets with Loyola (-) and led 11-8 at the opening 12-minute media timeout. Both teams would struggle from the floor over the next six minutes as the Firehawks led 14-11. Down the final six minutes of the opening half UTS would get buckets from Wright and Brandon Brown. The WolfPack would outscore the Firehawks 15-7 to lead 26-21 at the break.

LU opened the second half extending their lead to 10 in the opening four minutes. The Firehawks closed the gap to six with 13 and a half minutes remaining. Over the next three minutes, both teams would miss multiple shots and be riddled with turnovers.

LU would break the scoring drought with 10 minutes left, leading 40-32. Once again, the Firehawks trailed by 10 points with over nine minutes left. UT Southern began to chip away at the Loyola lead and held the WolfPack scoreless for the next three minutes to trail 42-41.

Down the stretch LU bounce out to a three point lead and would answer each made Firehawk basket. UTS trailing 51-45 with 1:26 left in the game, Tyson would drain a triple to slash the lead in half. In the final 30 seconds, UTS would have three shots on the rim to draw closer but couldn't sink one. LU led in rebounds41-23

NEXT UP

UT Southern will await the NAIA selection show to learn their matchup and venue for the NAIA Championship Opening Round on March 7^th, at six p.m.

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