For the first time in seven seasons, the Loras men's basketball team improved to 2-0 in Iowa Conference play after an 82-76 win over Buena Vista at Lillis Court on Saturday afternoon. Junior Justin VanWambeke led all scorers with 27 points, finishing 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.

ALL-TIME RECORD AGAINST SIMPSON
Simpson holds a 52-51 advantage in their all-time series against the Duhawks in a series dating back to the 1927-1928 season. In their inaugural meeting the Duhawks were defeated by a final score of 29-18.

LAST TIME AGAINST SIMPSON
Loras swept Simpson last season, winning their final meeting by a score of 89-71. Leading the Duhawks was Mirko Grcic, who tallied 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting. Backing up Grcic was Nathaniel Smith and Aaron Schueller who each added 17 points in the final game of their career. Simpson was led by Charles Swain, who reached the 1,000 point mark in his final career game for the Storm. Leif Olson had a career-best game against the Duhawks, scoring 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting.

SCOUTING THE STORM
The Storm were swept by the Duhawks last season, but appear to be much improved in 2016. Led by sophomore forward Sam Amsbaugh and senior guard Dillon Gretzky, Simpson has opened the season 8-5. This season Simpson seems dedicated to the newfound "small ball" style of play, nearly cutting big men Leif Olson and Cort Singleton out of their rotation entirely. Last season Olson was a staple in the Storm lineup, especially against the Duhawks. This season Olson has managed just 12.8 minutes per game after averaging 20.5 per in conference play a year ago. At 6-foot-5 Amsbaugh will be the largest man on the court for the Storm a majority of the time.

ALL-TIME RECORD AGAINST CENTRAL
The Duhawks are out to a 64-28 advantage over Central throughout their storied history, dating back to 1915-1916 season. In their first meeting, Loras was victorious by a final score of 29-18.

LAST TIME AGAINST CENTRAL
In their final matchup of the 2014-2015 season, the Dutch bested Loras by a final score of 75-61. Loras' lone double-figure scorer was Nathaniel Smith, who recorded 19 points on 7-of-18 shooting. Central had two players score 25 points apiece in Colby Taylor and Tate Handsaker. No other player for Central recorded more than six points in the victory.

SCOUTING THE DUTCH
Central opens the week with a 10-3 record before playing host to both Dubuque and Loras. The Dutch rely heavily on the play of junior Colby Taylor who leads the team in scoring at 23.2 points per game. Central leans so heavily on Taylor that they've produced just one other double-digit scorer on their roster. They'll need much more than Taylor to best the Duhawks however, who made Buena Vista's Nick Clark (20.8 ppg) look pedestrian last weekend. If necessary, the Dutch will look to Kyle Smith to fill that role. Smith, who averages 12.2 points per game, has played consistently this season, typically shooting at a 40 percent clip from the field. As a team, the Dutch have succeeded in all facets of the game, ranking second in both offense and defense out of the eight conference teams. Central boasts the top scoring margin in the conference and has held teams to a 39.8 percent shooting clip from the floor.

DUHAWKS OPEN IIAC IN PERFECT FORM
With victories over Coe and Buena Vista last week, the Duhawks finished as one of two undefeated teams in the conference after the first week. The last time Loras opened conference play with back-to-back wins was during the 2008-2009 season, Greg Gorton's first as head coach. Loras has opened the conference season 3-0 just twice in nearly a decade following a monstrous 15-1 conference campaign in 2006-2007.

SECOND HALF WARRIORS
There's no question that the 2015-2016 Loras men's basketball team has a lot of offensive fire power, coming from both starters and bench players. Out of the 1,026 points scored so far to date, 531 of them have come in the second half while outscoring opponents by 38 points. Compare that to the first half as Loras is only outscoring opponents by 15 points. The second half of games have been key to the early success so far this season especially during the opening of IIAC play.

PROMISING FUTURE FOR TIMP
Having only appeared in seven games to date, freshman Nolan Timp made his debut as a starter for the Duhawks last Wednesday in the conference opener against Coe. The Dubuque native is averaging 6.0 points per game and is 17-for-20 at the free throw line, equal to a .850 free throw percentage.

VANWAMBEKE AT HIS BEST
There are many factors in play in the recent Duhawks' success, but at the center of it is the play of junior guard Justin VanWambeke. In fact, when VanWambeke has at least 20 points in a game this season the Duhawks hold a record of 4-2. After his first season in the purple and gold in 2014-15, VanWambeke has taken his game to a new level this season. Both Coe and Buena Vista struggled to keep him in check, which opened up his teammates for easy baskets.

GRCIC NAMED IIAC PERFORMER OF THE WEEK
The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced on Tuesday morning its performer of the week for men's basketball. For the first time this season, senior Mirko Grcic was honored after his efforts last week that propelled Loras to a 2-0 start in conference play for the first time in seven seasons. Averaging over 34 minutes and 17.3 points per game this season, Grcic raised the bar offensively last week, scoring 24 points against Coe and 20 points against Buena Vista. The Lake Zurich native also raised his rebounding average to 9.2 per game, hauling in a combined 22 rebounds last week.