DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) - The Loras men's basketball team was defeated by crosstown rival University of Dubuque on Wednesday night, 81-66. Loras was led by junior Justin VanWambeke who tallied his third consecutive game of 25 points or better. In addition to a 27 point performance, VanWambeke hauled in seven rebounds and dished out a team-high two assists.

TURNING POINT
From the get-go the Spartans (12-6, 5-2 IIAC) put pressure on the Duhawks, opening the game on a quick 7-0 run. Loras brought the game back within four points at the 11 minute mark, but that was the closest the Duhawks would get on the night. Dubuque's spot-up shooting was devastating throughout the game.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
After the Spartans' quick start, Loras (9-9, 4-3 IIAC) eventually found their footing and cut the deficit to four with 10:58 to play. A trey by Dubuque's Andre Norris with 10:25 on the clock started a 10-0 run, creating a 14-point gap in favor of the Spartans.

Loras struggled to contain Norris, last year's Iowa Conference MVP, who finished the first half with 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting. Norris pushed his game to the perimeter more than usual and reaped the benefits.

As a team who came into Wednesday night averaging 14.1 assists per game, Loras was held to just one assist in the opening 20. Shooting 43.3 percent from the floor normally results in a first half lead for a team, but for Loras, they were trumped by Dubuque's 61.1 field goal percentage.

VanWambeke did his best to keep pace with the Spartans, scoring 16 points on his own in the first half while junior Danny Quinn went a perfect 5-for-5 from the line, finishing with nine points. Loras managed to cut the deficit to 12 thanks to a 5-0 run to close out the half, but Dubuque took the 49-37 advantage into the locker room.

Second Half
The Spartans put an immediate halt to the Duhawk momentum to open the half, running out of the break on 6-0 run to take an 18 point advantage. Loras brought the deficit to 10 on multiple occasions, the second of which resulted in an 11-0 run for the Spartans. The story of the game was the Duhawks inability to get past the double-digit deficit down the stretch.

VanWambeke and Norris continued their blistering play in the second, with each player increases their final point tally by double-digits. Quinn scored six in the second to finish the game with a career-high 15.

Freshman Ryan DiCanio came on late to score all 12 of his points in the final eight minutes of play. DiCanio went on to finish 6-of-11 from the field with three rebounds.

FRIEDMAN GROUP PLAYER OF THE GAME
Justin VanWambeke | VanWambeke continued to secure his name among the best on Wednesday, recording his third straight game of 25+ points. As a junior, VanWambeke leads the team in scoring at 19.3 points per game, with a total of 347 points scored on the year.

SOUNDBITES | Greg Gorton


UP NEXT
Loras travels north to Decorah on Saturday to face Luther. Luther earned their third conference victory on Wednesday, defeating Buena Vista by a final score of 79-74. Jack Woolems led the Norse with 14 points and five rebounds, each team-highs. In their first meeting this season, the Duhawks went 17-of-39 from beyond the arc to hand Luther the 85-67 loss.