Box Score Smart, efficient, and experienced. The Loyola Wolfpack showed the benefits of being a veteran basketball team Thursday as they played host to the ABAC Stallions.
 
With a roster littered with redshirt seniors and graduate students, Loyola broke open a game that was close at the half on its way to an 85-68 win. ABAC trailed only 41-35 halftime and kept pace for a while in the second half. A basket and free throw by Xavier Boyd was followed by Matas Aidietis's score inside to make it 48-42 just over four minutes into the second half. Three minutes later, Loyola led by 15 points and the Wolf Pack's lead was never in doubt after that.
 
Loyola shot 55 percent from the field and gained a huge advantage inside, outscoring ABAC 46-28 in the paint. The Stallions didn't help themselves with 25 turnovers, directly resulting in 26 Loyola points.
 
Boyd and Matthew Mairena led ABAC with 13 points each while T.J. Smith added 10. Loyola's Reece Seicshnaydre led all scorers with 16 points, topping four Wolf Pack players in double figures.
 
ABAC, now 5-12 overall and 1-8 in the Southern States Athletic Conference, stays on the road Saturday afternoon as they play league rival William Carey in Hattiesburg, Miss. at 3 p.m.