ALEXANDRIA, LA – The No. 14 Louisiana State University of Alexandria men's basketball team held on for an 88-84 win in their home opener over Loyola University New Orleans.
 
"That's another good job of being able to grind a win out," LSUA Head Coach Dimario Jackson said. "It's a great job by our guys to get timely stops and execute our brand of basketball."
 
Jordan Decuir led the Generals (3-1) with 26 points. He finished 10-for-21 from the field and hauled in eight rebounds. EJ McQuillan recorded 18 points; Courtney McCarthy finished with 11. McQuillan also recorded eight rebounds. PD McCraney dished out five assists. LSUA finished with 36 points in the paint, 23 second chance points, 14 points off turnovers, and 26 points from the bench.
 
The Wolfpack were led by Kameron Johnson and his 21 points. Cameron Williams (14), Eain Mowat (14), Zachary Lee (12), Leonard Jackson (11), and Kosta Bjelicic (10) all finished in double digits as well.
 
The first half was back and forth as both teams vied for the lead. There were 13 lead changes in the first half. With under 90 seconds to play in the first, a layup from Lee put Loyola ahead 37-32 for their largest lead of the night.
 
A pair of free throws from TJ James cut the lead to three, 37-34. Decuir followed suit with two free throws of his to send the game into halftime, 37-36, in favor of Loyola.
 
McCraney gave the Generals a 38-37 with the first bucket of the second half. The second stanza followed the first with seven more lead changes.
 
A three from Mowat with 3:05 left in regulation tied the game at 78-78.
 
LSUA went on a 7-0 run with two layups and a three from Decuir to take an 85-78 lead with 1:10 left to play.
 
After a layup from Bjelicic made it 85-80, both teams went to the line. The Generals were 3-for-4 on their two trips to the line, while the Wolfpack were 2-for-2.
 
A layup from Reece Seichsnaydre with 14 seconds left brought the game to 88-84. Williams missed a three with nine seconds remaining, allowing McQuillan to grab a defensive board and salt the game's final seconds away.
 
The Generals head to the Centennial Bank Classic at Bethel University (Tenn.) next week to play a pair of games against Georgetown (Ky.) and host Bethel (Tenn.).