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

Nov. 26, 2019 – The Loras College men's basketball team (5-1, 1-0 A-R-C) fought off a tenacious Central College (1-4, 0-1 A-R-C) team on Tuesday night in the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) opener as the Dutch unleashed a second-half comeback to force the Duhawks to give everything in the tank to secure the 96-93 win.

Loras scored first with J.T Ford hitting a three-pointer in the opening minute and the Duhawks began to pull away from the Dutch with 7:17 left in the first half after a layup from Matt Dacy-Seijo sparked a 32-13 run. Jordan Matthews, Ocean Johnson, Jackson Kolinski, Jalen Boyd and Rowan McGowen all followed suit to give Loras a 52-31 advantage at the half, including 12 points from McGowen.

With 13:17 left to play in the second half, McGowen opened up a 26-point lead for the Duhawks off a pass from Johnson to sink a three-pointer. Central was not going to back down without a fight and leading-scorers Caden Mauck, Jaden Moody and Adam Flinn turned up the intensity to score 62 points in the second half. The Dutch diligently chipped away at the Duhawks' lead and a three-pointer from Flinn with 1:25 to play cut the score 90-88. Dacy-Seijo made a layup seconds later and Flinn again responded with a three-pointer.

The Dutch regained control after an errant pass by the Duhawks, but Matthews stepped up on defense, tallying his fourth steal of the night to take the ball from Marcus Ashford, Jr., and took it to the hoop with five seconds left on the clock. Leading 94-91, Loras needed to keep possession and a foul in the final seconds by the Dutch sent McGowen to the line to shoot two for a 96-91 lead. With time expiring, the Dutch were unable to score the necessary points for the win, despite a buzzer-beater layup by Ashford, Jr.

Flinn led all scorers with 33 of Central's 62 second half points for 37 total points on the night. McGowen was the Duhawks' leading scorer with 26 points, shooting 8-15 from the field, 3-6 beyond the arc and 7-8 from the free-throw line. Ford, Jordan Boyd, and Matthews all tallied double-digit points and Jackson Kolinski added 14 points off the bench. Boyd had a team-high eight rebounds and one blocked shot. 

Loras takes a week off of competition before traveling to Decorah, Iowa on Wednesday, Dec. 4 to play Luther College. Tip-off against the Norse is set for 7:30 P.M.