DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) – The Athletic and Wellness Center saw a fantastic display of scoring Saturday between the Loras College Men's Basketball team and the visiting Central College Dutch. Both teams had great outputs on a team and individual level. In the end, it was the Duhawks that trumped the Dutch by a score of 83-71. Loras was led by senior Nathaniel Smith who tallied his first double-double on the year with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

The first half began on a scoring rampage with the teams traded baskets and on pace to score in the nineties within the first five minutes of the game. Nile Eckermann led the offensive for the Dutch as he was launching from beyond the arc, and making nearly every sing time. Despite having a hand in his face on several occasions, the guard shot 6-of-9 from three-point land, totaling 24 points in the first half.

One would assume with that level of opposition that the Duhawks would find themselves trailing, but that was not the case. The team held the hot-shooting Colby Taylor to just three points on 1-of-4 from the floor. Taylor was last week's Iowa Conference Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week.

On the other end of the court, the Duhawks were seemingly able to score at will. The team shot 50 percent from the field and 61 percent from beyond the arc. Central, trying to adjust their defense in an attempt to slow the Duhawk attack, repeatedly changed from a man-to-man defense to a series of zone defenses. This had little effect on Loras as they finished the half with 51 points and led by 19.

Coming out of the break, the Duhawks maintained their dominance, pushing their lead to 23 with 13:01 remaining. The 23-point spread was the largest of the night for Loras.

Central mounted their comeback attempt by going on a 10-0 run over the span of 3:22, to make it 64-51. Later, with 4:48 to play, the Dutch came as close at 10, but that was as close as they could come the rest of the game.

A full court press slowed the Duhawk offense in the second half, but too much time had run off the clock for the Dutch and they were forced to begin fouling. Going 5-of-6 from the line in the final minute and a half sealed the victory for Loras and evened up their conference record at 2-2 after a 0-2 start.