Contact:
Emily Adlfinger, Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7970
Jan. 25, 2020 – The Loras College men's basketball team (12-6, 5-4 A-R-C) ran away with a commanding 87-46 win against American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) foe Luther College (6-12, 2-7 A-R-C) on Saturday, limiting the Norse to only 17 points in the second half while the Duhawks scored nearly three times as many.
A free throw from
JT Ford put the Duhawks on the board to start the game and
Jake Healy followed up with a steal he turned into a fastbreak layup to extend the lead. The Norse cut the score to one point after Garrian Wade found Ray Whitlock in the paint for a layup and shortly tied the score 7-7 off a three-point shot from Gage Thompson, but it was the closest the Norse would come to taking the lead as Healy added two more points and
Rowan McGowen notched his first basket of the game to pull ahead 11-7 with 14:22 to play in the first half.
McGowen helped spark a 9-0 run that lasted nearly seven minutes to lead Luther 26-11 and points from
Jordan Matthews,
Jackson Kolinski, Healy and Ford gave Loras a 37-24 advantage with 2:06 to play until the half.
Seth Moeller knocked down a jump shot in the final minute and helped the Duhawks hold a ten-point lead going into the locker room.
The Norse scored back-to-back baskets in response to a jump shot from
Cole Navigato to cut Loras' lead by eight, but a chance for a comeback was short lived. With 13:06 left in the game, Healy found an open Navigato for the jump shot before hitting two of his own that started a 14-0 run to give Loras a 70-37 lead with just under nine minutes to play. A three-pointer by
Ocean Johnson with five minutes to play helped the Duhawks outscore the Norse 10-4 and give Loras a huge 87-46 home-court win.
Ford had a team-high 18 points and shot 8-10 from the field and both McGowen and Healy had 14 points. Healy posted a double-double with 11 rebounds as well and had a team-high six assists. Navigato had 12 points and led the team with two blocked shots.
Loras travels to Pella, Iowa to face Central College on Wednesday, Jan. 29 for the second meeting against the Dutch this season. Tipoff is set for 7:30 PM.
