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

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (Nov. 20, 2019) – Coming off three-straight wins at home, the Loras College men's basketball team faced a tough matchup for its first road game of the 2019-20 season against No. 17 Augustana College (3-1), falling at the hands of the Vikings, 88-59.

Loras got off to a slow start as Augustana controlled the court and took a 12-2 lead in the first four minutes, limiting the Duhawks to a pair of free throws by JT Ford. A layup from Jalen Boyd stopped the Vikings' 20-point run, but Augustana held on to bring a 43-21 lead into the locker room. Rowan McGowen paced the Duhawks in the first half with six points and Ford had four rebounds and two steals.

Loras was able to get back into an offensive rhythm in the second half as Jordan Boyd hit the quick jumper. The Duhawks began to chip away at Augustana's lead, scoring six-straight points off back-to-back layups from Cole Navigato and a layup by Jalen Boyd to force the Vikings to regroup and call a timeout with 14:47 remaining. Loras continued to cut down its opponent's lead, trimming the score 42-55 off a layup from Ocean Johnson with 11:35 left to play and the Duhawks' defense came away with eight steals in the first fifteen minutes to thwart Augustana's momentum.

While the Duhawks saw progress in the second half, scoring 38 points, Augustana's lead proved too large as the Duhawks moved to 3-1 on the season with an 88-59 loss to the No. 17 Vikings. Ford was 1-1 beyond the arc and 3-7 from the field, leading the team with nine points and five rebounds. Jalen Boyd and Johnson each tallied eight points.

The Duhawks (3-1) travel to the College of St. Scholastica on Saturday, Nov. 23 for one more non-conference matchup before starting American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) action on Tuesday, Nov. 26. Tipoff in Duluth is set for 4 P.M.