RALEIGH – A Casmir Ochiaka layup with less than seven minutes to play in the first half cut No. 20 North Carolina State University's lead to three, but C.J. Bryce scored the next five points and the host Wolfpack went on a 17-5 run to close the period, parlaying that stretch in to a 97-64 victory Friday night at PNC Arena.
 
Andrew Kostecka scored 17 in the second half and finished with a game-high 27 points to go with eight rebounds and two steals for Loyola (4-9 overall) as the Greyhounds closed non-conference action with the outing.
 
Loyola returns to Reitz Arena for the first time since December 1 to open Patriot League action with a Thursday, January 3 game against College of the Holy Cross at 7 p.m. in Reitz Arena.
 
After Bryce hit a three and scored in the paint to make it 33-25 Wolfpack with 4:39 left in the first, Chuck Champion scored for the Greyhounds to trim the North Carolina State advantage to six. D.J. Funderburk converted with a 15-foot jumper for the home team, and Kostecka made the front-end of two at the free-throw line, bringing the margin to seven at 2:41.
 
Bryce then connected again – he finished with 13 points – in the paint at 2:29, but a Champion transition 18-foot jumper put the score at 37-30 with two minutes left in the stanza.
 
Jericole Hellems scored the next five points for North Carolina State, spurring an 8-0 run to close the half and put the Wolfpack up, 45-30, at the break.
 
A Torin Dorn dunk 59 ticks into the second, and a Bryce transition basket just over a minute later gave North Carolina State twin 20-point leads, with a Kostecka three at 17:17 dropping Loyola's deficit to 17.
 
Kostecka and Eric Lockett traded baskets with Lockett's giving the Wolfpack a 56-39 advantage with 14:58 on the second-half clock, but a Kostecka two and a Champion steal-to-fast-break-layup brought Loyola within 13 at 13:40.
 
North Carolina State (12-1) scored seven in a row, however, and 11 of the next 13 points, pushing the lead to 20 or more for the remainder of the game.
 
In addition to Kostecka's 27 points, Champion added 12 with three steals. Kenneth Jones knocked down all three of his shots from 3-point range to finish with nine for the Greyhounds.
 
Dorn paced five Wolfpack players in double-figures with 17 points, while Hellems scored 17.