MOBILE, Ala-- The University of Mobile men's basketball team took down visiting Loyola University 86-75 in SSAC action Thursday evening.

Mobile (10-12, 6-6) remains within one game of 1st-place Belhaven in the SSAC West, and will host William Carey University Saturday at 4 pm.

Antonio Hester and Ji Kimbrough led Mobile with 16 points apiece, while Hester added 12 boards for a double-double and Kimbrough dished out six assists. Christian Salinas added 13 points, Cody Scott finished with 12 and Spencer Duke tallied 11 for the Rams.

Loyola's McCall Tomeny led all scorers with 24 points.

The Rams out shot Loyola 57% to 49% for the game, and held a 52% (12-of-23) to 33% (4-of-12) edge from 3-point range. The long ball helped Mobile overcome Loyola knocking down 25 free throws, compared to just 10 for the Rams.

The opening half was the key half in the game, as the Rams opened up a 45-35 lead thanks to a 9-for-15 effort from 3-point range. Six different Rams knocked down 3's in the half, led by a 3-of-4 effort from Brock Dockery. UMobile opened up a 12-4 lead in the game thanks to four 3-balls, and then back-to-back 3's from Salinas and Kimbrough helped push Mobile to a 32-20 lead with 7:23 to play.

In the final half, the Rams never led by less than eight points. After a Corey Gray 3-pointer cut the deficit to 46-54 for the Wolfpack, the Rams scored nine-straight, capped by a Spencer Duke 3-pointer to build a 17-point advantage.