Feb. 26, 2023 – An unlikely showdown in the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Tournament finished 93-86 in favor of Coe College on Saturday night as the Loras College men's basketball team just couldn't contend with the magic of Coe's Cinderella run.

The fourth-seeded Duhawks (17-11) played a strong game from start to finish on Saturday night inside a packed Lillis Athletic & Wellness Center, but the sixth-seeded Kohawks (16-12) were not to be denied as they secured their third straight road win to claim a surprising tournament championship and steal the league's automatic bid to the NCAA National Tournament.

If you're a fan of offense, then this game was for you as both teams found their stroke in the first half and never let up. Coe finished the game 34-for-54 (63%) from their field while Loras was not much worse off at 33-for-64 (51.6%), which marks the team's highest shooting percentage since a Dec. 21 win over Blackburn College.

Coe took a 49-47 lead into the locker room after leading for a good portion of the first half, but some timely shooting for the Duhawks kept them in the game. A three-pointer from junior guard Ali Sabet with under two minutes to go before the half pulled the Duhawks to a tie despite trailing by as many as seven earlier in the period.

Loras got the crowd involved early in the second half as a couple quick baskets, bookended by a dunk for sophomore forward Alex Singleton, put the Duhawks up by two, but Singleton's dunk sparked a run in the opposite direction as Coe responded with a 12-2 run to suddenly grow a lead of 10.

Coe's TJ Schnurr flipped a switch during that Kohawk run and made things happen from all over the floor. The junior forward finished with a game-high 36 points, 22 of which came in the second half, on an ultra-efficient shooting line that read 14-for-15 from the field and 3-for-3 from three-point range.

Schnurr threw down a thunderous slam dunk in transition with 10 minutes still to play as the bucket put the Kohawks up by 13, their largest of the game to that point. In desperate need of bucket, sophomore guard Jared Pearson nailed a mid-range jumper to stop the bleeding for the Duhawks.

That bucket from Pearson calmed things down for Loras as it began to chip into the Kohawk lead. A pair of three-pointers from guards Tyler Bass and Declan Ciurlik helped the Duhawks inch closer, but another powerful slam dunk, plus the foul, for Singleton with three minutes to play made it a one-possession game yet again.

After another basket from Schnurr, junior guard Myles Barry connected on a three-pointer and got the Duhawks to within one, setting up for a running layup for Sabet that put the Duhawks up by one with under a minute to play.

Coe responded again and took the lead back on its next possession, which set up Loras with another chance, but Sabet was whistled for an offensive foul with less than 30 seconds to play, forcing the Duhawks to go into fouling mode. The Kohawks sank all six of their free throw attempts in the final minute to pull away with the win.

Sabet led the Duhawks with 24 points while Bass totaled 16 points and fell one rebound shy of a double-double. Barry (12), Ciurlik (11), and Pearson (11) each reached double figures as well.