DUBUQUE, Iowa – After a five-year spell, the Loras College Duhawks men's basketball team is back in the NCAA Tournament and is headed to Platteville, Wis. to face the Gustavus Adolphus College Golden Gusties on Friday, March 1 at 5:20 p.m. in the Regional Semifinal. The winner of Friday's matchup will advance to the Round of 32 and face the winner of UW-Platteville and Bethany Lutheran, a game that will tip off at 7:50 p.m. tomorrow.
 
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LAST TIME OUT
The Duhawks won the program's third American Rivers Conference title after defeating the top-seeded Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves 85-76 in overtime on Saturday, Feb. 24.

Ali Sabet ended the game with 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 6-of-10 from beyond the arc and a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Jack Haynes logged his fourth 20 point-plus game of the season, finishing with 21 points on an efficient 8-of-11 (72.7 percent) shooting.

Jackson Molstead posted 19 points, going 7-of-14 from the field, while shooting 5-of-9 from three-point territory. Declan Ciurlik recorded a career-high 11 assists, a mark that is tied for the second-most in a single game in program history.

Carter Glenn led the Prairie Wolves with 26 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field. Peter Lash and Jack Groeteke each finished with 13 points to close out double-digit scorers.

NWU raced out to an early 12-3 lead, but baskets by Molstead, Haynes, and Sabet would tie things up at 19-all with 11:46 to play. From there, the two programs exchanged baskets, but the No. 17 Prairie Wolves held a lead up until the 5:13 mark when a layup by Tyler Bass gave Loras its first lead of the game (35-33). NWU would close out the first half on an 11-7 run to lead 44-42 at the break.

Loras kept things close for a majority of the second half, but a 7-0 run by Nebraska Wesleyan gave NWU a 64-56 lead with 5:57 to play, putting the Duhawks in a precarious position. Sabet, however, had other plans as he went on a personal 5-0 run over the ensuing two minutes to bring Loras back within two (64-62) with 4:07 to play.

As time continued to wind down, the two programs went toe-for-toe and exchanged basket-after-basket until Loras was finally able to tie things up at 69 with 1:56 to play. Both teams missed shots on their ensuing possessions over the final few seconds of regulation, leading to overtime.

The Purple and Gold struck first in OT with a basket by Haynes to go up two. Groeteke responded with a layup to tie things back up, but Loras answered with a three by Gavin Sarvis to give it the final lead it needed on the night. Back-to-back baskets by Haynes and a three-pointer by Molstead put Loras up, 81-74, with 1:33 to play, forcing the Prairie Wolves to start to foul. The Duhawks would go on to make its final four free throws to close things out.

Loras shot 29-of-63 (46 percent) on the game, including 14-of-34 from three. Nebraska Wesleyan wasn't far behind, shooting 28-of-64 from the floor (43.8 percent) and 10-of-26 from deep. The two teams were even in rebounds (38-38), but Loras held advantages in assists (22-13), bench points (29-14), and turnovers (9-11).
 
ABOUT THE DUHAWKS
Loras has won six of its last eight games heading into the tournament, entering postseason with a 23-5 overall record. The Duhawks average 85.5 points per game, the 15^th-best total in the country, while limiting its opponents to 72 points. The team has continued to shoot well all season, as Loras averages 11.8 three point makes per game (4^th in NCAA DII) and holds a top-10 mark in free throw percentage at 78 percent – the ninth-best mark in the NCAA.

Sabet, who was recently named First Team All-Conference by the A-R-C, averages 18.9 points per game to lead the team, followed by Molstead and Bass at 12.1. Bass' rebounding average of 7.2 per game leads Loras, with Haynes close behind at 5.7. Sabet is the nation's best free throw shooter, converting 92.9 percent of his attempts from the charity stripe.

The last time the Duhawks were in the postseason was during the 2019 NCAA Tournament. In its first game, Loras defeated Albion, 75-64, before going on to take down the No. 15 North Central Cardinals, 84-82. The Purple and Gold's postseason push ended there, however, as the program fell to the fourth-ranked Titans of UW-Oshkosh, 86-75, in the Sweet Sixteen.
 
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GUSTIES
Gustavus Adolphus enters the first round match up with an overall record of 18-10, securing its spot in the NCAA Tournament after winning the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a 72-71 victory over Hamline in the league's conference championship on Feb. 24.

The Gusties average 78.9 points per game and are hitting 39.5 percent of its shots from beyond the arc, a mark that stands as the fourth best in all of Division III. Additionally, the team's percentage from the field (49 percent) ranks 12^th in the country. Limiting its opponents to 72.7 points per game, the Gusties' defense has consistently ranked in the top-five in the MIAC all season long.

Junior forward Spencer Swanson averages a team-best 19.3 points per game in 37.5 minutes per contest, which is the fourth-most per game minute total in the nation this season. Senior big-man Wyatt Olson is second in scoring at 13 points, followed by senior forward Evan Wieker and junior guard Brady Kienitz at 12.1 and 12 points per game, respectively.

Swanson does a little bit of it all, as he leads the team in rebounding at 9.1 boards per game while also being the team-leader in assists with 2.8 per contest. The Waconia, Minn. native has been lethal from distance, converting on 50 percent (50-for-100) of his attempts from three point territory.

The Golden Gusties are led by Justin DeGrood, who is coaching in his second season with the team. A 2007 graduate of Gustavus, DeGrood has a career record of 27-26.
 
NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND SCHEDULE – AT UW-PLATTEVILLE
Friday, March 1 (Session 1)
Game 1: Gustavus Adolphus vs. Loras College | 5:20 PM | Bo Ryan Court
Game 2: Bethany Lutheran vs. UW-Platteville | 7:50 PM | Bo Ryan Court
 
Saturday, March 2 (Session 2)
Game 3: Winners Advance | 7:50 PM | Bo Ryan Court
 
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets will go on sale at 12 p.m. on UW-Platteville's athletics website and will cost $15 per adult, $10 for children, seniors, and students, and will cost nothing for children under the age of two.

Tickets can also be purchased at the window on game day two hours prior to the first game tipping off unless all tickets are sold by then.
 
THE SERIES
The two programs are somewhat of an unknown to one another, as Friday's match up will be just the second meeting for the two in their respective histories. The last meeting took place on Dec. 29, 1973, in a 73-55 victory for the Purple and Gold.