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

DECORAH, Iowa (Feb. 9, 2022) – The Loras College men's basketball team (15-7, 7-6 A-R-C) celebrated more than just a 61-41 victory against Luther College (7-15, 4-10 A-R-C) on Wednesday as senior Cole Navigato put himself into the program record book as the 45th player to score 1,000 career points.

The Duhawks were gunning to avenge the loss to Luther earlier in the season and although the Norse won the opening tip and struck first, it was their only lead of the contest as Ali Sabet answered back with five unanswered points and Jackson Kolinski joined in with a layup of his own for a 7-2 lead at the 16:21 mark. Luther pulled back within two points on the next possession but the Duhawks rallied back with a run led by Alex Singleton, Myles Barry and Sabet. Griffen Clark drained a three-pointer at the 10:30 mark to put Loras up 23-9 before Navigato made a statement dunk to extend the lead then tacked on another jumper to put him within one point of 1,000. The senior forward drew a foul on the next possession and stepped up to the line, sinking a free throw for his milestone point and put the Duhawks up 30-11 with under seven minutes to play in the half. Loras continued to hold the lead and distance itself from Luther through the remainder of the half, taking a 37-21 lead heading into the break.

Rowan McGowen hit one of his signature three-pointers to start the second half and Loras kept the Norse off the board for nearly three minutes, taking a 42-23 lead. Luther strung together a 10-0 run in the middle of the half but a pair of free throws by Tyler Bass put the Duhawks back on track and McGown hit another three-pointer to extend the lead back, 51-33, with 6:30 left in the game. The Norse responded back with a three-pointer and layup for an attempt at a run but free throws by Sabet and Bass and a layup by Navigato gave Loras a comfortable 61-38 lead with just under two minutes to play. Luther tacked on one more three-pointer in the final minute but would not overcome the deficit.

Sabet led the team with 11 points followed by Navigato and Clark with nine each. Bass had a team-high eight rebounds and was 4-4 at the free-throw line while Jake Healy led the defensive efforts with three steals. Barry dished out a team-high four assists. Loras went 11-12 in free-throws on the night for 91 percent and played a tight game, only giving up ten turnovers while coming away with ten steals.

The Duhawks play their third game of the busy week on Saturday, Feb. 12, hosting a rematch from Monday night against the Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves for Senior Day. Tip-off is set for 4 P.M. inside the Lillis Athletic & Wellness Center.