DUBUQUE, Iowa – The Loras College Duhawks men's basketball team welcomes in the University of Dubuque Spartans on Saturday for the two teams' regular season finale on Saturday, Feb. 17. Tip from Lillis Court is set for 4 p.m.
 
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LAST TIME OUT
 Ali Sabet dropped 16 points while Jackson Molstead added in 14 as the Loras College Duhawks beat Luther College 86-54 on Wednesday night to complete the season sweep over the Norse.

With the win, the Duhawks hit the 20-win mark for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

Sabet went 6-of-13 (46.2 percent) from the floor, while Molstead was 4-of-9 (44.4 percent) shooting. Molstead, the fifth-year guard out of Charles City, Iowa, connected on a game-high four three pointers while dishing out four assists in 25 minutes of action.

Jared Pearson and Gavin Sarvis each scored 11 points to round out Duhawks in double-digits. Pearson went 4-for-6 (66.7 percent) from the floor, including 3-of-5 (60 percent) from deep, while Sarvis finished 4-of-5 (80 percent) from the field in 11 minutes of play.

Aidan Baliley scored 17 points to lead Luther, which has now lost four of its last five games. Andrew Lazinbat was the next closest Norse in the score book, as the senior guard scored eight in Luther's home finale.

The Duhawks got on the board first with an and-one layup by Tyler Bass on the team's second possession of the game before opening things up with a 7-2 run over the next two minutes to lead it 9-2.

The Purple and Gold kept the foot on the gas both offensively and defensively over the first half, not allowing the Norse to reach double-digits until there was 9:57 to play in the opening frame. By that point, the Duhawks had a 15-point advantage (25-10) and never looked back as Luther failed to bring it within 14 points at any point during the remainder of the game.

The Norse held a slight advantage in the rebound battle (40-39), but Loras countered with leads in assists (21-6), bench points (44-25), and points off turnovers (16-7). As a team, the Duhawks shot 50.8 percent (33-of-65) from the floor, including 12-of-33 (36.4 percent) from beyond the arc. Luther shot just 31.7 percent (19-of-60) from the field and a dismal 4-of-20 (20 percent) from three-point range.
 
ABOUT THE DUHAWKS
Loras enters Saturday's contest with the third-best conference record in the American Rivers at 11-4, while boasting an overall record of 20-4. Nebraska Wesleyan (21-3, 12-3) and Coe College (20-4, 12-3) stand ahead of the Duhawks in the standings, but with a Loras win and losses by NWU (at Buena Vista) and Coe (vs. Wartburg), the Duhawks could emerge from Saturday's game as regular season champions of the American Rivers Conference.

Since the A-R-C tournament began in 1999, the Duhawks have make four appearances in the championship game, coming away with conference titles in 2007 and 2008. Loras previously played in the championship last season, but fell 93-86 to Coe College, who made a title run as the tourney's six seed.

Leading an offense that scores the 11^th-most points per game (86.7) in the country is Sabet, who averages 19.5 per contest. Second on the team in scoring is Molstead at 12.3, followed by Bass at 12.2, and Jack Haynes with 11.8. Bass leads the team in rebounding, pulling in 7.2 per game, followed by Haynes with 6.1.

Haynes has been outstanding from the field this season, as the sophomore forward has converted 66.7 percent of his shots – good for second in all of NCAA Division III. Sabet also finds himself near the top of a statistical category, as the Glenview, Ill. native is second in the country in free throw percentage at 93.2 percent.

As a team, Loras limits its opponents to 72.1 points per game, giving the Duhawks the conference's top scoring margin (14.6). Loras takes and makes the most three pointers out of anyone in the A-R-C, as the Purple and Gold convert 12.3 of its 32.7 attempts per game.
 
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
UD enters Saturday's game fourth in the conference standings with an overall record of 19-5 and a conference mark of 10-5. The team averages 74.5 points per game, while limiting its opponents to a conference-low 62.8 points.

Junior guard Jaylin McCants leads the team in scoring at 18.4 points per game, followed by senior guard Sam Kilburg at 13.8. McCants is the team-leader in rebounding with 7.3 per game, followed by guard Brock Simon at 5.5.

The team's defense has been stellar all season long, as Dubuque's opponents have shot only 40.2 percent from the field and merely 30.2 percent from beyond the arc – marks that each stand as the lowest for a team's opponents in the conference.

An area the Spartans have had issues with is ball security, as Dubuque turns the ball over 10.3 times per game, which leads the conference.
 
A-R-C STANDINGS
1. Nebraska Wesleyan (21-3, 12-3)
2. Coe College (20-4, 12-3)
3. Loras College (20-4, 11-4)
4. Univ. of Dubuque (19-5, 10-5)
5. Central College (16-8, 10-5)
6. Buena Vista University  (13-11, 6-9)
7. Simpson College (9-16, 3-13)
8. Luther College (7-17, 2-13)
9. Wartburg College (3-21, 2-13)
 
THE SERIES
The two programs have gone back-and-forth over the last three matchups, with Loras having won two of the three. Over the course of the series, the Duhawks own the head-to-head record at 25-19. The last time the two inner city rivals squared off was on Jan. 17, a 76-65 victory for the Purple and Gold.