ELSAH, Ill. (Nov. 19, 2022) – A pair of free throws with less than a second remaining made the difference for the Loras College men's basketball team as the Duhawks dropped a close road game to Principia College on Saturday afternoon.

The Duhawks (1-2) led for most of the second half before a late charge from the Panthers (4-1) led to an eventual 77-76 win in front of their home crowd.

Loras led by as many as 12 in the second half, but the Panthers slowly began to cut into the lead with under eight minutes to play. The Panthers took their first lead since the opening minutes of the half with just over a minute to play as a pair of free throws from Nathan Brantingham made it 75-74.

A couple of possessions later, the Duhawks drew up a play that saw sophomore guard Ali Sabet drive the baseline and score a go-ahead layup with 13 seconds on the clock. At the other end, the Panthers were scrambling to find space as Jake Kampf drove to the free throw line and began to take an off-balanced shoot.

With just 0.2 left on the clock, Sabet was called for a reach-in foul that would send Kampf to the line for two shots. The 94.7 percent free throw shooter sank both of his attempts to give him 31 points for the game and seal the deal on Principia's 77-76 come-from-behind win.

Sabet finished with 17 points and was one of four Duhawks to finish in double figures. Junior guard Declan Ciurlik led the Duhawks with a career-high 23 points thanks in part to four three-pointers. Ciurlik also added four assists and a pair of offensive rebounds.

Sophomore Tyler Bass (11) and junior Myles Barry (10) joined Ciurlik and Sabet in double figures while Barry also led the team with eight total rebounds and six assists.

The Duhawks will hit the road again for the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) opener on Tuesday, Nov. 22 when they travel to take on Simpson College at 7:30 P.M.