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

Feb. 25, 2020 – As has been the case against its opponent in all three meetings this season, the Loras College men's basketball team (17-9, 10-6 A-R-C) played through to the final buzzer in a hard-fought battle against Wartburg College (12-14, 7-9 A-R-C) in the first round of the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Tournament, but the sixth-seeded Knights escaped the Duhawks' tenacious comeback bid, ending Loras' tournament run at home with a 79-74 loss.

Wartburg took an 8-2 lead to start the game but a three-pointer and a jump shot by Matt Dacy-Seijo helped the Duhawks stop the run and pull within three, opening the door for Jackson Kolinski to knock in two free throws and Jeff Kratz to hit the tying three-pointer with 12:25 remaining. The Knights pulled ahead again until Ocean Johnson dished the ball out to Kolinski to hit a three-pointer and cut Wartburg's lead, 16-15.

The Knights went on a 5-0 run to extend the lead, 22-15 with just over six minutes in the half, but Loras continued to fight back with a layup by Ben Burkholder, jump shot from JT Ford and another three-pointer from Kolinski. The Duhawks' efforts cut Wartburg's lead, 27-25, with 2:22 on the clock, but the Knights closed the half with a 6-0 run to lead 33-25.

The Duhawks were going to have to play catch up from the start of the second half after Wartburg took a 38-25 in the first two minutes. Jake Healy got Loras' offense going with a layup and then fed an assist to Ford for another two points. With 14:43 left on the clock, Kratz passed the ball to Seth Moeller who hit a three-pointer, cutting Wartburg's lead, 41-37.

Loras remained patient and continued to chip away at Wartburg's lead and it paid off as a layup by Johnny Roeser with 10:23 remaining brought the Duhawks within one point. Wartburg turned the ball over and on the next possession, Johnson went up for the offensive rebound and made a second-chance layup, scoring the go-ahead points for Loras. The Knights responded with a 7-0 run to take back the lead and hold onto it until a layup by Ford tied the game 60-60 with 5:41 left to play.

Just as they had before, a three-pointer by Camry Moore stopped Loras' momentum and the Knights went on to tack on seven more unanswered points to lead 67-60 with under a minute left in the game. Ford helped get Loras back in the action with a jump shot and Healy and Dacy Seijo each scored three-pointers that kept the Duhawks within four points of Wartburg with 12 seconds remaining. Molstead hit two free throws after Ford clipped him for his fifth foul of the night, but Dacy-Seijo kept Loras alive with a three-pointer with five seconds on the clock to make the score 76-73.

To keep time on their side, Healy fouled Molstead again, limiting the Knights to free throws and Molstead made one of two, but it was not enough as Max Drahos Smith hit the final two free throws of the game to put Wartburg ahead by five with one second remaining, coming away with the 79-74 win.

Dacy-Seijo totaled 16 points and Healy added 15 while both Ford and Kolinski tallied ten points. Healy had a team-high seven rebounds while Dacy-Seijo, Ford and Kratz all came away with two steals.

The Duhawks completed the 2019-20 season with a 17-9 overall record and 10-6 in A-R-C play. McGowen ended the season as the Duhawks' leading scorer with 439 points and Ford finished second with 390 points while also leading the team with 195 rebounds. In his freshman campaign, Jake Healy tallied 209 points and 115 rebounds.