Falcons Fall to #1 Overall Seed Loyola

NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Florida College Falcons' historic season came to an end Saturday night in Devlin Fieldhouse.

FC was defeated 106-75 by the Loyola University New Orleans Wolfpack. The Wolfpack are the #1 overall seed in the 64-team tournament field.

The Falcons dug themselves quite the hole to start the game. The Wolfpack led 15-0 to begin the game. The Falcons answered back with an 8-0 scoring run of their own. The first half lead got to as big as 17 points for the home team, but eventually, the Falcons shrunk it to nine points at intermission, 46-37.

The Falcons cut it to eight points in the second half, but that was the closest they would get. Loyola was too much for the nine-seeded Falcons who were playing without 1st Team All-Conference and Conference Newcomer of the Year, Chinedu Okonkwo for the second game in a row.

"Tonight was a tough one," said head coach Chase Teichmann. "Loyola is the best team in the country, in my opinion. They are unbelievably athletic and well-coached. They are the best offensive rebounding team in the country; not to mention their turnover generating defense. I think this is the hardest game you can play at our level and it's extremely difficult to prepare for especially with a short turnaround. Despite the end result, our guys were locked in and up for the challenge. It just wasn't our day. Credit goes to Loyola. They have a superb team and a great chance to win the whole thing. This doesn't take away from all that our guys accomplished this year. We are so proud of them."

The loss ends FC's season one game short of reaching Kansas City for the Sweet 16. Florida College ends the season 31-4 (12-0 CAC).