Nov. 8, 2022 – A high-scoring affair kicked off the Loras College men's basketball season on Tuesday night as the Duhawks dropped a back-and-forth game to Concordia University Chicago by a 98-88 final.

The Duhawks (0-1) trailed by 10 at the half and played even with the Cougars (1-0) in the second half, need just another shot or two to fall to get back into the game after trying to mount a comeback.

Concordia tallied 54 points in the first half to take a 54-44 lead to the locker room. That lead grew to as many as 21 points during the second half as the Cougars looked to be in control.

A short 6-0 run for the Duhawks was punctuated by a dunk from senior forward Zach Deering, cutting the lead down to 14 points. Deering drained a corner three-pointer just a few possessions later to cut the lead down to 12 and ignite the Duhawk crowd for one of the first times all evening.

Loras cut the lead down to as few as eight points in the comeback attempt as a lay-in from sophomore guard Ali Sabet made it 90-82 with a minute and a half remaining, but that was as close as the Duhawks managed to get.

Sabet led the Duhawks with 22 points and was one of three Duhawks to come away with two steals in the game.

Only junior Declan Ciurlik connected on more than one three-pointer in the contest as he finished 2-for-6 from deep, contributing to his 13-point output.

As a team, Loras was stellar from the free throw line, sinking 22 of their 27 attempts on the evening, including a perfect 6-for-6 output from sophomore Tyler Bass, helping him to a 16-point performance while he led the team with six rebounds.

The Duhawks turned the ball over 19 times compared to just 13 from the Cougars, leading to 29 Concordia points off those turnovers that helped make the difference in the outcome.

Loras hits the road for the first time in 2022-23 later this week as the Duhawks travel to Greenville University on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7:00 P.M.