DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) - Winners of their last two, the Loras Men's Basketball team hopes to continue their winning streak Wednesday night when they take on their crosstown rivals, University of Dubuque.

ABOUT DUBUQUE ...

The Spartans enter Wednesday's contest looking for a resurgence to their season. After starting their season 8-0, Dubuque has gone 4-3 in their last seven games.

Andre Norris continues to lead the Spartans' offense this season, averaging 19.8 points per game, more than five points better than the next teammate in line. Norris will shoot from all over the floor as he is second on the team in 3-point attempts (48). On the year, Norris is 99-of-193 from the floor, good for a 51.3 shooting percentage.

In both of their conference losses, the Spartans were held to less than 37 percent shooting from the floor, while their opponents shot better than 45 percent.

GRCIC BACK ON TRACK …
After posting just three points and eight rebounds on 1 of 6 shooting against Coe College last weekend, Mirko Grcic has bounced back in an impressive way. Grcic was able to notch 22 points alongside 15 rebounds on 9 of 12 shooting against Simpson College proving his place as one of the best players in the conference. Against Central College, Grcic tallied 19 points and nine rebounds. These numbers will help immensely as Grcic looks to hold the conference lead in both points and rebounds per game.

COACH GORTON ALTERS STARTING FIVE …
For the first time since Nathaniel Smith went down with injury following the Duhawks game against Edgewood, Head Coach Greg Gorton decided he needed to make a change in his starting five. Just one game removed from the best game of his career, Junior Justin Schneider was sent to the bench in favor of senior Nathaniel Smith. Smith entered the season as the starter at the three spot. In Schneider's spot will be junior Mirko Grcic who has seen significant success at the four spot this season.

NATHANIEL SMITH BACK IN THE STARTING LINEUP …
It all started in Florida for senior Nathaniel Smith. After sustaining an injury against Edgewood on November 15th, Smith has been working harder than ever to get back into the starting lineup. He was given that chance against Central College on Saturday after coming off the bench as a 6th man over the course of the previous five games. In his return to the starting five, Smith scored 20 points and grabbed 10 boards on 9 of 15 shooting.

DESPITE ECKERMAN'S OUTBURST, DUHAWKS SUCCESSFULLY CONTAIN TAYLOR …
Going into their game against Central College, Loras was extremely focused on containing the hot shooting of Dutch sophomore and IIAC player of the week, Colby Taylor. Taylor came into the game averaging just over 18 points and 10 rebounds per game which was good for second in each of those categories. Coach Gorton put his most tenacious defender, Mirko Grcic on him and shut him down. Taylor was held to just five points and eight rebounds on 2 of 10 shooting from the floor, 1 of 7 from deep. Nile Eckermann was able to score 35 points on the Duhawks due to this concentrated effort, but went just 1 of 5 from beyond the arc in the second half of play.

BEST BASKETBALL LIES AHEAD FOR DUHAWKS …
The Duhawks believe that their best ball has yet to be played this season. Fans saw many positive signs throughout their game against Central, including improved defense. Junior forward Mirko Grcic had this to say about the teams most recent efforts...

"Offensively we were doing our thing, we were really feeling it down low and when the doubled us down there we got good kick-outs. We have to credit our defense the most, they were able to hold Central to 32 points in the first half which was one of our best defensive halves of the season. Especially with having Nathaniel back, it's really going to help us improve."

HARMENING ADMITS TO SLUMP, PROVES WHY HE'S THE STARTING PG …
This season senior Bobby Harmening has been experiencing a significant slump that has resulted in some fans questioning his spot in the starting lineup. Harmening responded in a big way in the Duhawks victory over Central. With 15 points, two assists, and five rebounds on 4 of 9 shooting, Harmening reassured fans that his best has yet to come this season. His improved play would drastically improve the Duhawks chances of winning the IIAC Conference Tournament later this season.

The senior had this to say about his play "I've been struggling from the field over the course of the last five games, I've been working more on my shot, but the biggest thing is that my teammates still encourage me to shoot. Their belief in me is by far the biggest thing that encourages me."

COACH GORTON JOINS THE CENTURY CLUB ...
With the win over Simpson, Head Coach Greg Gorton reached 100 career Iowa Conference victories. In his tenth season at the helm, Gorton joins the likes of Buena Vista's Brian Van Haaften and Wartburg's Dick Perth as the only three current Men's Basketball coaches in the conference with 100 wins in the IIAC. All three of coaches are the longest tenured men's coaches in the conference. This accomplishment emphasizes the commitment Gorton has to his program as well as his athletes.

SCHNEIDER SETS NEW CAREER-HIGH IN POINTS ...
10 points against Simpson on Wednesday marks a new career-high in scoring for junion Justin Schneider. In his first season as a starter, Justin has shown consistent improvement over what we have seen over the course of his previous two seasons. In just 19.8 minutes per game Schneider is averaging 5 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1 block per game on 50 percent shooting from the floor. These are all improvements over last season in which Scheider averaged 2.9 points and 2.8 rebounds per game on 49.1 percent shooting. The junior will look to continue to improve his play as the season rolls on.

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.