No. 7 seed Loyola (La.) beat top-seeded UT Southern 51-48 to win the 2024 SSAC Men’s Basketball Championship, presented by Newk’s Eatery. The Wolf Pack become the lowest seed to win the championship.
Loyola also becomes the first SSAC team to win four games in four days in the tournament and runs their tournament winning streak to 10 games.

Individual Leaders
For Loyola, Milan Mejia (6'2''-G-2001) had 16 points, Zachary Lee (6'4''-G) posted 10 points and nine rebounds and Braelee Albert (6'5''-F-2001) led with 13 boards and four assists
The Firehawks got 11 points from Kendall Wright (6'4''-G), 12 points from Malik Tyson (6'4''-G) and nine boards from Tad Sivley (6'5''-F)

Inside The Box
Loyola held UT Southern to 32% shooting from the field and 29% from 3-point range, while the Wolf Pack knocked down 5-of-12 triples
The Wolf Pack turned the ball over 18 times, but won the rebounding battle 41-29

How It Happened
The first half saw the teams trade buckets early until UT Southern grabbed a 16-11 lead with 5:36 to play on a pair of Brady Brown FT’s
Loyola scored the next 13 points to claim a 24-16 advantage with 2:13 to play before taking a 26-21 lead into the break
The Wolf Pack maintained the lead the entire second half. UT Southern cut it to one point with 5:22 to play, but Loyola’s Julian Baldwin (6'8''-F) answered with a 3-pointer and the Wolf Pack held on

SSAC Final: UT Southern - Loyola 48-51

SSAC Semifinals:
UT Southern - Mobile 70-54
Life - Loyola 66-69

SSAC Quarterfinals:
UT Southern - Thomas 77-64
Stillman - Loyola 76-79
Life - Dalton State 81-76
William Carey - Mobile 68-85

SSAC 1/8 Finals:
Loyola - Middle Georgia 67-58
Thomas - Faulkner 74-58

Courtesy of ssacsports.com

All-Tournament MVP: Zachary Lee (6'4''-G) of Loyola, LA
Player of the Year: Ezra McKenna (6'9''-F) of Mobile, AL
Defensive Player of the Year: Franklin Almonte (6'7''-F) of Dalton St.
Freshman of the Year: Jayden Cooper (6'2''-F) of Faulkner
Newcomer of the Year: Dylan Brumfield (6'4''-PG) of William Carey
Sixth Man of the Year: Antonio Jones (6'4''-G) of Stillman
Coach of the Year: Dugan Lyne of UT Southern

All-SSAC First Team 2024

McKenna

Hudson

Ward

Bates

Brumfield

Talley

First Team
Ezra McKenna (6'9''-F) of Mobile, AL
Adarion Hudson (6'0''-PG) of UT Southern
Joshua Ward (6'2''-G) of Life
Marcus Bates (6'8''-F) of Stillman
Dylan Brumfield (6'4''-PG) of William Carey
Bailey Talley (6'7''-F) of Stillman
Damariee Jones (6'6''-G) of Mobile, AL
Brice Martin (6'7''-F-2001) of MGA
Matt Compas (G) of Dalton St.
Jayden Cooper (6'2''-F) of Faulkner

All-SSAC Second Team 2024

Mejia

Brown

Brown

Smith

Smith

Miller

Second Team
Milan Mejia (6'2''-G-2001) of Loyola, LA
Jarvis Brown (6'2''-G) of Thomas Univ.
Brady Brown (6'7''-G) of UT Southern
Lance Smith (6'1''-PG) of Brewton Parker
Earl Smith (6'3''-G) of William Carey
Donavan Miller (6'0''-PG) of Dalton St.
Elias Ramierz (6'1''-G) of Life
Antonio Jones (6'4''-G/F) of Rust
Victor Munoz (6'7''-G) (6'7''-F) of Faulkner
Tad Sivley (6'5''-F) of UT Southern

All-Freshman Team
Jayden Cooper (6'2''-F) of Faulkner
Zachary Lee (6'4''-G) of Loyola, LA
Tyson Anderson (6'0''-PG) of Thomas Univ.
Kameron Johnson (5'9''-PG) of Loyola, LA
Joshua Roberts (6'1''-G) of Thomas Univ.

SSAC All-Tournament Team 2024

Lee

Albert

Hudson

Brown

Ward

McKenna

All-Tournament Team
Zachary Lee (6'4''-G) of Loyola, LA
Braelee Albert (6'5''-F-2001) of Loyola, LA
Adarion Hudson (6'0''-PG) of UT Southern
Brady Brown (6'7''-G) of UT Southern
Joshua Ward (6'2''-G) of Life
Sage McKenna (6'7''-F) of Mobile, AL