Contact: Emily Zadny, Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7970

Nov. 15, 2019 – Playing the first of two games for the weekend's slate, the Loras College men's basketball team improved to 2-0 on the season with an 88-75 win against Blackburn College (0-2) on Friday.

The Beavers had the first points on the board off a jumper from Karson Hayes and a three-pointer from Chanz Aldridge but two three pointers from Rowan McGowen and Jordan Boyd gave Loras a 6-5 advantage and marked the last time Blackburn would take the lead. With 8:30 left in the first half, the Duhawks extended the lead 32-17 off back-to-back dunks from Cole Navigato and Boyd and went into halftime with eight straight points from McGowen, Navigato and Matt Dacy-Seijo to lead 47-32 at the half.

Blackburn started the second half in similar fashion to the first, scoring a layup early, but Loras responded with three quick scores from Boyd, Navigato and Jake Healy to lead 53-34 with 17 minutes remaining. The Beavers began making a charge back with just under six minutes to play, scoring on three straight layups to cut Loras' lead 74-59. A three-pointer from Christian Wagner with four minutes left was the start of a six-point run that ended with a minute left. Jordan Matthews hit a layup at 54 seconds and Wagner responded with a three-pointer, but solid 4-4 free throw shooting from Matthews and the Duhawks' defensive efforts in the final seconds helped Loras come away with its second win at home.

The Duhawks' defense had an impact in the game, securing 31 defensive rebounds to Blackburn's 17. Loras had five players score in double-digits as McGowen matched his jersey number with 21 points on the night, Navigato added 19, Boyd had 13 and Dacy-Seijo had 12 points. Navigato had a team-high seven rebounds and Dacy-Seijo was 4-6 from three-point range.

The Duhawks play again on Saturday, Nov. 16, hosting Concordia University-Wisconsin at 6 P.M.