FULTON, Mo. – The Loras College men's basketball team came up short against Westminster College, 84-79, on Monday evening.
The Duhawks held their largest lead of the opening half, 14-8, following a
Nolan Berendes three-pointer, but Westminster (4-6, 2-1 SLIAC) used a 12-3 run to take a 20-17 lead with 12:31 left to play. The home team held a four-point advantage, 39-35, over Loras (7-2, 3-0 A-R-C) at the half.
Despite the Blue Jays leading by as many as nine multiple times in the second half, the Duhawks were able to cut the deficit to just two (81-79) thanks to a pair of free throws from
Johnny Semany. However, Westminster made the most of its trips to the free throw line, going 3-of-4 in the final 10 seconds to secure the 84-79 win.
Berendes led the way for Loras with 18 points, six rebounds and two blocks.
Lukas Balling and
Dylan Kurt rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Duhawks with 10 points apiece. As a team, the Purple and Gold shot 45.8 percent (27-of-59) from the floor and 36.7 percent (11-of-30) from three.
Westminster's Walker Gohring led all scorers with 33 points. He added eight assists and four rebounds to his stat line as well, while Kolton Garner and Jamile Johnson contributed 16 and 12 points respectively. As a team, the Blue Jays shot 56.1 percent (32-of-57) from the field and 63.2 percent (12-of-19) from downtown.
Up Next: The Purple and Gold look to bounce back on Thursday, Dec. 18 when they travel to Monmouth, Ill. to take on the Monmouth College Scots. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. from the Huff Athletic Center.
