WAVERLY, Iowa – The Loras College men's basketball team rallied from 13 points down with just over 16 minutes left to play to defeat the Wartburg College Knights, 79-72, on Wednesday night inside Levick Arena.

The Knights broke a 5-5 tie early on in the first half with a layup by Gabe Trujillo. From that point on, Wartburg (6-2, 1-1 A-R-C) maintained at least a one-point lead for the rest of the half, extending its advantage to 10 (41-31) with a buzzer-beater three-pointer from Marshun Williams right before halftime.

The home team held its largest lead of the contest (48-35) with 16:17 remaining in the second half, but the Duhawks slowly chipped away over the next 10 minutes to erase the deficit and take a 60-59 lead with just over six minutes left on the clock.

The Knights tied the score up two more times (62-62, 64-64), but Gavin Sarvis answered back each time by sinking a pair of free throws (64-62) and finishing a layup (66-64) to put Loras (5-1, 2-0) back in front. The Purple and Gold went 5-of-6 from the foul line in the final 1:02 of play to secure the victory.

Sarvis paced the Duhawk offense with 21 points, five rebounds and five assists. Jack Haynes registered his third consecutive double-double with a 12-point, 13 rebound night, while Kyler Kober rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points. Loras shot 50 percent (31-of-62) from the floor and 42.1 percent (8-of-19) from behind the arc.

Williams led the way for the Knights with 28 points, nine boards and six assists. Isaac Besh and Richie Rosenblum added in 17 and 11 points respectively in the loss. Wartburg shot 34.5 percent (19-of-55) from the field and 75 percent (24-of-32) from the charity stripe.
 
Up Next: The Duhawks return to Lillis Court on Thursday, Dec. 12 to take on the North Central College Cardinals. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.