By: Cade Messer | Athletic Communications Student Assistant 

Feb. 21, 2023 – The postseason is finally here for the Loras College men's basketball team as the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Men's Basketball Tournament is set to begin Tuesday night. The No. 4-seeded Duhawks (15-10, 9-7 A-R-C) will play host to the No. 5-seeded Wartburg College Knights at 7 P.M. inside the Lillis Athletic & Wellness Center.

The Duhawks 2022-23 campaign got off to a slow start after dropping four of their first six games; however, they were quick to bounce back as they rattled off eight consecutive wins and won their first five A-R-C conference games. The Duhawks ended up finishing 10-4 at the end of 2022. In 2023 the Duhawks have struggled thus far and are yet to find their groove, posting a 6-7 record and going on a four-game losing skid that was just recently snapped this past weekend when the Duhawks defeated Wartburg 84-77 in the regular season finale.

Tuesday night will be the second time in four days and the third time in the last month that the Duhawks and Knights have faced off against each other. In the first meeting of the season back on Jan. 18, the Knights got the best of the Duhawks, winning 93-78 in Waverly. Wartburg shot a blazing 67 percent from the floor while the Duhawks shot a respectable 41 percent. Tyler Bass and Ali Sabet led the Duhawks offensively in the first matchup scoring 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Just four days ago in the most recent matchup between the two teams, the Duhawks snapped their four-game losing skid and knocked off the Knights 84-77. Junior Declan Ciurlik led the way for the Duhawks with 21 points, shooting 44 percent from behind the arc. Junior Myles Barry added 18 points and sophomore Alex Singleton grabbed six rebounds. The Knights and Duhawks went back and forth in a game that had 13 different lead changes, but the Duhawks ended up pulling away in the final few minutes of the game.

The third and final matchup of the year with both programs' seasons on the line will be a "winner takes all." In each of the last two matchups between these teams, the home team has come out victorious. We'll see if that remains true on Tuesday night or if the Knights will play spoiler.

The winner of the quarterfinal matchup will take on the No. 1 seed Central College Dutch in the semifinals on Thursday, Feb. 23. Tip-off is set for 7 P.M. inside P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium in Pella, Iowa.