By Chris Megginson, Sports Information (SID2Go) Stillman
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Stillman College’s second attempt in four days to knock off the No. 2 Loyola University Wolfpack was blocked at the buzzer late Thursday night in an 81-80 loss in Birthright Alumni Hall.
After 14 lead changes in the final 10 minutes, Stillman in-bounded with five seconds left. Londell King received the ball in the key, but stepped back to shoot a 3 as the final second ticked off the clock. Zach Wrightsil’s hand was there to block the shot and secure the win.
The Tigers opened the game with a 4-0 lead and held the lead for the first four minutes, only to trail for the next four minutes. Devin Merriweather hit a jumper with 11 minutes left in the first half to give Stillman a 15-14 lead. They led by as many as seven and carried a 39-36 lead into halftime. The lead held nine minutes into the second half until the game became nearly a possession-by-possession change in the score.
Five Stillman players scored in double digits, led by Derrick Finklea‘s 16, Trey Petty‘s 15 and Devin Merriweather‘s 14. Tomias Brand and King, scored 12 and 11, respectively.Petty finished with nine rebounds, narrowly missing a double-double.
Wrightsil scored 23 to lead Loyola, while Jalen Galloway came off the bench with 21 points. Myles Burns scored 12 and Zach Muller had 10 points.
Stillman shot 50.8% for the game and made 9-of-10 free throws. Loyola missed nine of its 16 free throw attempts to shoot 68.8% from the charity stripe.
The regular season concludes Saturday for the Tigers (18-7, 10-7) when they host William Carey University at 3 p.m. for Senior Day and Homecoming.
