DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) - Reeling after Wednesday's win over Luther, the Duhawks look to come out and honor their seniors on Saturday with a win against Coe.
ABOUT COE ...The Kohawks have hopes of snapping a three-game losing streak when they visit to take on the Duhawks on Saturday. Coe is coming off Iowa Conference losses to Dubuque, Wartburg, and Central.
This season, Coe has relied on senior JT Vonderhaar, senior Matt Daust, and junior Jacob Timm. Vonderhaar takes care of business in the trenches, leading the team in points per game (14.6) and in rebounds with 6.2 boards per game. Daust is one of the better shooters in the conference, shooting 47.5 percent from beyond the arc. Timm's charged with the task of facilitating the offense, a role he has excelled in throughout the season. He leads the team with 94 assists while committing just 28 turnovers.
Loras will have to use a combination of tactics on defense. In order to keep Coe's distance shooters under wraps, they'll have to play tight and smart defense. As for containing Vonderhaar, junior
Mirko Grcic and sophomore
Justin Schneider will have their work cut out for him inside.
DUHAWKS SNAP STREAK OF LOSSES AGAINST THE NORSE …Following four straight losses to the Norse of Luther College, the Duhawks were able to take care of business on Wednesday night. The Duhawks started out strong, leading the Norse by one at halftime 31-30. In the second half
Nathaniel Smith continued to reign supreme, as he single-handedly shot the Duhawks to victory. It was his shooting that allowed the Duhawks to gain a nine-point lead over the Norse after all was said and done. The defense of junior
Mirko Grcic helped the Duhawks immensely as he held D3Hoops Team of the Week selection Jake Martin to just 10 points on the night.
NATHANIEL SMITH SETS NEW CAREER-HIGH IN SCORING …As a four-year starter under head coach
Greg Gorton,
Nathaniel Smith is enjoying his best season as a Duhawk statistically. While this season is winding to a close, Smith has been able to increase his scoring and rebounding as the season progresses. During Wednesday night's win over Luther, Smith continued this trend, scoring a career-high 34 points. Smith's 12-of-19 shooting night along with an 8-of-8 mark from the charity stripe marked the best shooting night the Duhawks have seen all season.
Coach Gorton had this to say about Smith's play against Luther, "He's a unique kid. He can score inside, he can beat you off the dribble, and he can make 3-balls. He's one of those kids without a weakness offensively. We felt like going at their defenders with him in the low-post was a good play for us and a high-percentage play for us."
Smith will look to repeat his performance in what is potentially his last game in the Athletic & Wellness Center on Saturday.
SALUTING THE DUHAWK SENIORS …With the last home game of the 2014-15 season comes the close of the careers of six seniors. Five of which have been significant contributors to the program on and off the court. Seniors
Bobby Harmening,
Luke Barry,
Regan Takes,
Aaron Schueller, and
Nathaniel Smith have become staples within the program for their selfless style of play and dedication to mentoring the youth of the Duhawks squad. In addition to the five players, Saturday will celebrate the hard work and dedication of senior manager Peter Long. Since his first day on campus, Long has been an asset to the Loras College Men's Basketball program.
DUHAWKS IN THE PLAYOFF CONVERSATION …With Wednesday's win over Luther, the Duhawks moved to 4-7 in the Iowa Conference and 9-13 overall. The win puts them at sixth in the conference, which means they are currently set to play post-season basketball. A loss in any of the remaining three games would hurt the Duhawks chances significantly however as both Central and Luther are also vying for one of the last two spots. Luther has a less than favorable final three games as they will be playing both Dubuque and Wartburg, two of the top teams in the conference. While Central faces off against Luther, Loras, and Wartburg. A win over Coe on Saturday could give the Duhawks just the momentum they need going into the final week of the regular season. Loras is set to close out the regular season on the road at Central and Simpson next week.
KEYS TO BEATING COE …Earlier this season, a second half slump prevented the Duhawks from defeating the Kohawks. After leading 33-32 at halftime, Coe was able to storm back to take a 68-60 lead at the final buzzer. The Duhawks second half collapse was partially due to the hot hand of Matt Daust who dropped 22 points on the Duhawks for a game-high. Loras was also unable to corral Christian Fahey who shot 5-of-6 from the floor and corralled 10 rebounds for the Kohawks. One thing the Duhawks succeeded in doing was containing senior JT Vonderhaar. While being guarded by
Mirko Grcic, Vonderhaar shot just 2-of-9 from the field for nine total points. This time around there will be one major difference in the Duhawk lineup. That difference will be
Nathaniel Smith coming off of the best game of his career. Last time around, Smith was limited to a bench role while he was continuing his rehabilitation from injury. Smith is now at 100% and ready to help the Duhawks secure a spot in the conference tournament.
DUHAWKS IN SEARCH OF CONSISTENT SCORING ...In the previous six games, Loras has had four different players lead the scoring charge. While it is nice to see other players stepping up, Loras hasn't seen consistant scoring from most players this season. The Duhawks rely heavily on their seniors, but outside of
Nathaniel Smith, no one player has shown supreme consistancy. Junior
Mirko Grcic leads the team in overall scoring (14.5 ppg), but hasn't led the team in scoring in a game since January 14 against Simpson. Loras will need to find some consistancy to finish the season strong.
THE FINAL FOUR …With just four games remaining in the regular season, the Duhawks are hoping to finish strong and put a positive spin on the end of their season. With a four-game winning streak, the Duhawks could still finish the season at 12-13 and 7-7 in the Iowa Conference, which could potentially place them in the conference tournament. This season, Loras sits in seventh place, needing to move up one spot to secure a birth. Ahead of Duhawks in the standings are Central and Luther with records of 4-6 in conference play. Loras will play each of these teams again before the season closes, giving the Duhawks a chance to move ahead of them. Coming up, the Duhawks will face Luther, Coe, Central, and Simpson. Each of their away games will be played against teams they've already bested this season in Central and Simpson. The Duhawks will be in the Athletic & Wellness Center to take on both Luther and Coe this week. Loras will be looking to get revenge on the upset win Luther scored over them on January 24 while Coe is a team that the Duhawks played well against in the second half of their early season battle.
DEFENSE KEY TO WINNING DOWN THE STRETCH …While it's no surprise to say that a good team defense will win a lot of games for a squad, the stats strongly back it up for the Duhawks this season. In games that Loras has won, they've held opponents to an average of 67.5 points. However, in games that they have lost, opponents have scored, on average 80.5 points, including four games of 90+ points. With the talent Loras has, they know that they can score, but a focus on defense will be crucial to their success during the final stretch of the season.
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.
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.
