ALEXANDRIA, La. – The Jake DuPree era of (RV) Louisiana State University of Alexandria men's basketball opened with a bang. The Generals upset No. 14 Loyola University of New Orleans, 85-84.
Andre Walker II scored 29 points in the victory. He shot 9-for-19 from the field, including a 4-for-8 mark from long range, and was a perfect 7-for-7 at the free throw line. He added eight rebounds, including four offensive, to his total. Joining Walker in double digits was
Ju'Juan Ray with 16 points.
The Generals (1-0) came down with a 38-30 rebounding advantage. They shot 43.1-percent from the field as a team and 9-for-18 from long range. The Generals converted 80-percent of their free throws. LSUA led for 94.7-percent of the game.
Kosta Bjelicic recorded 29 points for the Wolfpack. Kameron Johnson finished with 21.
A free throw for the game's first point from Johnson gave Loyola (0-1) an early, and brief, lead.
Connor Morris answered with a three for LSUA's first points. After trading points and the Wolfpack claiming a 4-3 lead, a layup from
Sehmaj Mentor put the Generals ahead 5-4.
The Generals held the lead to halftime, heading into the locker room with a 45-41 advantage.
Despite the Generals' lead never getting above eight, LSUA led for nearly the entire second half. Each time the Wolfpack clipped the score to one, the Generals responded with points of their own.
With 2:32 left in regulation a free throw from Bjelicic brought the score to 83-80 in favor of LSUA. Back-to-back layups from Michael Mouton and Bjelicic flipped the lead to Loyola, 84-83 with just 16 seconds on the clock.
After a timeout, Walker drove the lane and picked up a layup for an 85-84 LSUA lead with five seconds to play. The Generals held off the final push from Loyola to preserve the win.
The Generals are at home again on Monday, October 26, to play Central Baptist College at 7:00 PM.
