Tonight Loyola University’s men’s basketball faced off against Tulane University at Devlin Fieldhouse in the annual “Battle of Freret Street” basketball game.

Many NCAA Division I athletic teams will play annual games against teams in lower classifications, however few have the personal element that the “Battle of Freret Street” gives.

“Tulane is just right across the street so a lot of the guys on our team know them and vice versa. It’s just good being able to come over here and having the chance to compete,” said advertising junior Nick Parker.

As we’ve been accustomed to seeing the past two years, Parker led the way for the Wolf Pack in scoring. In spite of a slow start to the game Parker finished the game with 17 points, with 14 coming in the second half.

“Started off slow, second half I picked it up. I don’t even know how much I finished with but I know it was double digits. If I had did that the whole game it probably would’ve been a different game”, said Parker.

Senior forward Johnny Griffin Jr. also had a noteworthy performance with 16 points and seven rebounds.

In spite of his individual box score reflecting a stellar game, Griffin was very critical of his own performance following the game.

“I thought I could’ve finished more, I felt like I wasn’t there for my team. I got into foul trouble and that hurt us later in the first half” said Griffin.

Despite two solid performances from both players, the Wolf Pack was ultimately defeated by a final score of 80-58.

In spite of the loss, Head Coach Stacy Hollowell appears to have seen some quality play from his team early on in the game.

“Early I thought we controlled the tempo way better than we did against LSU-Alexanderia, the ball moved well. I thought we defended pretty well early, it was 27-212 with two and a half minutes left. I felt good about how we were playing,” said Coach Hollowell.

The team will next play on the road this Saturday, Nov. 5 against Selma University.