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

STORM LAKE, Iowa (Dec. 4, 2021) – Finding themselves trailing at the half, the Loras College men's basketball team (6-1, 2-1 A-R-C) remained composed through to the final buzzer to rally back for a massive second half offensive effort, posting 48 points for a 73-68 win against the Buena University Beavers (2-7, 0-2 A-R-C) in Storm Lake on Saturday.

Cole Navigato scored the first points of the game off a turnover by the Beavers before the back-and-forth battle began and the teams traded the lead ten times in the first eight minutes. The Beavers took their opportunity to break away with a layup at the 11:50 mark and tacked on six quick points to lead 18-15 with 10:19 left in the half. Declan Ciurlik found Rowan McGowen open in the lane for a layup to stop the run but Buena Vista found another spark and took a 31-19 lead with four minutes to play. A layup by Navigato plus a pair or free-throws by the senior and Jake Healy closed the gap to eight points with 2:18 left but the Beavers closed out the half with three more points to lead 36-25 heading into the second half.

Buena Vista added on three points to their lead to start the second half but Tyler Bass took command with a three-pointer and followed up with a layup for the and-one to cut into the Beavers' lead. A pair of three-pointers by Buena Vista gave them their largest lead of the game, up 47-31 with 16:55 left but the Duhawks were not deterred, scoring nine unanswered points capped off by another three-pointer for Bass to pull within seven with 12:57 left in the game.

Loras remained diligent as Ali Sabet made four free throws and Ciurlik grabbed a steal and took it to the hoop to make the score 51-46 but the Beavers also were not giving up and took back an 11-point lead, up 57-46 with just under ten minutes to play. Both teams continued to challenge the other as the Beavers worked to maintain their lead but the Duhawks found a rhythm as a layup by Ciurlik put Loras within one point with 2:04 remaining and a three-pointer by the Duhawks' all-time leader McGowen tied the game at 67-67 with 1:38 remaining. The Duhawks called a quick timeout and came back onto the court ready to take the lead as Sabet grabbed a defensive rebounds off a missed three-pointer by Buena Vista and took it in for the layup, putting Loras ahead for the first time since the 11:50 mark in the first half. The Beavers had a chance to tie it after drawing a foul with 42 seconds remaining but had a make and a miss, keeping Loras up by one. Buena Vista, needing to foul to work the clock, made the mistake of fouling Sabet who has been sharp at the free-throw line this season and the sophomore stepped up to seal the win for the Duhawks with four free throws to put the Duhawks up, 73-68 with three seconds remaining, keeping the game out of reach for the Beavers.

Navigato had 18 points to lead the Duhawks while Sabet added 14, headlined by 10-10 shooting at the free-throw line. Ciurlik added ten points off the bench while Jake Healy came up big with seven defensive boards and shared the team-lead with Ciurlik with two assists each. The Duhawks shot 52 percent from the field in the second half and went 19-22 at the free-throw line, finishing the night with 86 percent shooting from the line.

The Duhawks resume American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) action in the new year and will take on non-conference Blackburn College on Saturday, Dec. 11 on the road in Carlinville, Ill. Tip-off is set for 2:00 P.M.