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

Jan. 8, 2020 – Despite the team coming out on the wrong side of a 92-88 final score, junior guard Rowan McGowen bested his previous career-high performance from earlier this season on Wednesday evening in the RV Loras College men's basketball team's (10-4, 3-2 A-R-C) overtime barn burner against American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) foe Buena Vista University (12-2, 3-2 A-R-C).

JT Ford and McGowen opened up the scoring with a layup and went on a 21-9 run to take a 15 point lead with 13:37 left to play in the first half. A three-pointer from Michael Demers halted the run for a moment before McGowen and Jordan Boyd put up eight points to give Loras a 53-30 lead with 1:12 left in the half. The Beavers responded with two three-pointers to close the first 20-minutes of action with the Duhawks ahead, 53-36.

It took nearly two minutes for either team to score coming out of the locker room, but it was McGowen again to kick things off for the offense before Ford made a layup. Buena Vista began to claw back at the deficit, scoring seven-straight points to cut the lead 57-43 with 14:38 on the clock. The teams traded layups as Ford hit a jumper in the paint and Tim Jeffries responded with a layup for the Beavers before Jake Healy joined in on the action with a jumper to keep the Duhawks' ahead, 61-45.

But the Beavers were gunning for the lead and scored nine-straight points to come within five points of the Duhawks with 10:54 left to play. A pair of free throws by Dominic Sesma tied the score 63-63 with just under nine minutes to go but Matt Dacy-Seijo came up with the jump shot to give Loras the lead again. Buena Vista was not going down easy, tying the game twice more before taking its first lead of the contest off a layup from Demers with 6:06 remaining. A layup and free throw from Healy followed by two free throws from Boyd and a layup from Ford gave the Duhawks the 74-69 lead.

The tensions continued to rise inside the Athletic & Wellness Center as Buena Vista quickly clipped the Duhawks' lead and tied the game again, 74-74 before a free throw from Cole Navigato gave Loras a one-point advantage. Sesma scored a layup and Jeffries tacked on a free throw to lead 78-77, but McGowen did what he does best and drained a three-pointer off a pass from Ford with six seconds on the clock to put Loras ahead 80-78. The Beavers made the most of their next possession as DJ McNeal took off down court on the fast break and made the layup to tie the game and send the Duhawks into overtime for the first time this season.

The Beavers won the tip-off to start over time, but Navigato grabbed the rebound off Sesma's missed three-pointer to give the Duhawks a chance on the other end of the court. He hauled in another rebound and drew the foul, heading to the line to shoot two and give the Duhawks the early advantage in over time. McGowen extended the lead 84-80 with a jumper and Navigato made a layup shortly after to help Loras to an 86-82 lead, but six points from the Beavers soon gave them the lead with 1:14 left on the clock.

Buena Vista, who had struggled from beyond the arc in the second half, was experiencing the same troubles as Joe Lind missed a three and Jordan Matthews grabbed the rebound to set Navigato up for the layup to tie the game 88-88 with 19 seconds left. The Beavers found the spark from three-point range, however as Sesma hit a three as time expired and drew a foul that sent him to the line to shoot the final shot of the game.

McGowen set a new career-high 33 points, shooting 12-17 from the field and 4-6 beyond the arc. He and Matthews both collected six boards and Ford had a team-high seven assists. The Beavers showed tenacity in the second half and overtime, but Loras shot 55% for field goals, 43% for three, and 91% at the line, topping their opponent in each category.

The Duhawks play on the road on Saturday, Jan. 11, traveling to Waverly, Iowa to face the Wartburg College Knights. A-R-C action begins at 4 P.M.