DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) - The Loras Men's Basketball team will look for their first Iowa Conference victory this season on Wednesday night when they host Simpson in the Athletic & Wellness Center.
ABOUT SIMPSON ...
At 6-7, the Storm are off to a much better start than last season when the faced the Duhawks at 2-9.
Thus far, Simpson has relied heavily on senior guard Charles Swain. Swain is leading the team in points per game with 14 per game. He's helped in the backcourt by junior Dillon Gretzky, averaging just under nine points per game. Gretzky is coming off of an outstanding performance (16 points) in Simpson's win over conference-favorite Buena Vista. The Storm feature a primarily guard heavy starting line-up outside of their 6-9 center Cort Singleton. Playing just 16 minutes a game, Singleton is their main source inside.
The Duhawks will need to contain the inside prescence coming off Simpsons bench in order to claim victory as they search for their first Iowa Conference win of the season.
LORAS PREPARED FOR SIZE OF STORM ...
In order to win this weeks matchup with Simpson, the Duhawks will need to prepare heavily for the size that they bring to the table. Despite junior
Justin Schneider checking in at 6-9, Simpson will be able to match him inch-for-inch with sophomore Cort Singleton and junior Leif Olson. Olson had a significant impact for the Storm in their 100-70 loss to the Duhawks at the end up last season, scoring 14 points with six rebounds on 6 of 8 shooting from the floor. Singleton on the other hand, blocked a conference-high nine shots against North Central earlier this season. Also seeing playing time for Simpson is the 6-8 sophomore Vaughn Wilson as well as the 6-7 freshman Cody Isabel. With Schneider and Grcic being the only true post players for the Duhawks, Loras will have to step things up on the defensive end.
DUHAWKS FALL TO 0-2 IN CONFERENCE PLAY ...
After dropping their conference opener to Bunea Vista, the Duhawks were hoping to heat up heading into their matchup agianst Coe. Early on things were looking bright for the Duhawks as they took an eight point lead into halftime. Unfortunately for Loras, the solid shooting stroke they found against Buena Vista was nowhere to be found in the second half at Eby Fieldhouse. After shooting just 38.5 percent from the field the Duhawks were grounded by Coe, 68-60. This marks the second time the Duhawks have led at the half and gone on to lose.
FOUL TROUBLE PLAGUES GRCIC ...
Junior
Mirko Grcic entered into Saturdays matchup with Coe averaging 16.5 points on 55 percent shooting along with 11.2 rebounds per game, but senior JT Vonderhaar shut Grcic down. In a season-low performance, Grcic scored just three points alongside eight rebounds. Vonderhaar was also able to draw five fouls against Grcic, getting him to foul out with just over three minutes remaining in the game. The ensuing free-throws put Coe up by seven points which would ultimately secure their victory. His abscence down low helped Coe to pick up 22 points in the paint. Simpson is a better free-throw shooting team than Coe so the Duhawks will have to watch out.
GRCIC TIES SCHOOL RECORD ...
In the 2014-15 season opener, junior
Mirko Grcic hauled in 26 rebounds, tying a Loras school record dating all the way back to the 1954-55 season. That year, Al Carew collected 26 rebounds in a game against St. Norbert College.
