Contact: Emily Adlfinger, Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7970 (written by Kyler Donovan, Athletic Communications Student Assistant)

CARLINVILLE, Ill. (Dec. 11, 2021)– The Loras College men's basketball team (7-1, 2-1 A-R-C) traveled to Blackburn College (1-7) to take on the Beavers in a non-conference matchup. Through a strong first-half performance where the Duhawks shot a remarkable 65 percent from behind the arc, they sawed off the Beavers with a 107-82 victory.

Ali Sabet started the game off hot with a jump shot for three to put the Duhawks in the first minute but the Beavers eventually tied it up at 5-5 at the 17:24 mark. The Duhawks shortly increased the gap to lead by 14 thanks to back-to-back jump shots from Tyler Bass. Griffen Clark then put the Duhawks up 18 with two three-pointers, making the score 34-16 with 11:31 left in the first half. Rowan McGowen was also a key part of the Duhawks' success in the first half, coming up with a jump shot twelve and a half minutes into the game to put the Duhawks up by 27 points. A three-pointer by Declan Ciurlik forced a Beavers timeout with 3:30 left on the clock before closed out the dominant performance in the first half with three-pointer to put the Duhawks up 65-32 heading into halftime.

The Duhawks started the second half as they ended first, scoring six points unanswered, which saw the Beavers use their first timeout within the first minute. After a back and forth ten minutes, McGowen continued his scoring with a three-pointer to put the Duhawks up 84-54 with 9:46 left on the clock. This started a dominant stretch for the Duhawks, seeing them put up twelve points in two and half minutes against the Beavers' sole layup from Jarrius Burnett. The Duhawks maintained their lead throughout the second half with Kyle Maybrun closing out the Duhawks' scoring run with a layup to make it 107-72 with 2:44 left in the game. A ten-point run from the Beavers to finish up the game wasn't enough for the hosts to take down the now 7-1 Duhawks.

McGowen led the Duhawks' offense, scoring a team-high 22 points. The Duhawks were strong near the board with Myles Barry, Jackson Kolinski, and Ciurlik all having five rebounds on the night. Ciurlik led the team with five three-pointers and Sabet joined McGowen who both made four each, helping the Duhawks achieve their impressive 58 percent shooting record from behind the arc for the night.

The Duhawks will travel to California this next weekend to take on California Lutheran University and the University of La Verne. The games will be streamed at 5:00 PM (PT) on Dec. 17, and 1:00 PM (PT) on Dec. 19.