Men's Basketball Extend Conference Lead with Sweep of Loras
Feb 6, 2016
DUBUQUE, Iowa - The University of Dubuque men's basketball team extended their lead in the IIAC over second place with a sweep of the Loras College Duhawks 77-62. The Spartans improved to 15-6 overall and 8-2 in the IIAC and hold a two game lead entering Wednesday's contest vs. Coe College.
The Spartan faithful (The Legion) were on hand at Loras after making the short trip a few blocks from campus to cheer their team on Saturday. The conference leading Spartans would score 20 points in the paint and received help from the bench players who chipped in 16 points in the victory. Andre Norris led all scorers with 27 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, and stole the ball four times. Kain Arthofer sank 5-10 attempts from the field to finish with 15 points and Jake Weber had 10 points and collected eight rebounds. The Spartans would struggle at the free throw line after ending the afternoon shooting 65.6% (21-32).
UD held the halftime edge 40-28 and their largest lead was 24 points early in the second half before the Duhawks made a run to narrow that gap to just 11 points at 1:46. UD would extend the lead late in the game when the Duhawks began to foul to stop the clock.
"We really did a great job defending Loras especially their top two scorers," said Head Coach Robbie Sieverding. "The difference tonight was our defensive effort especially the first eight minutes of the second half where we held them scoreless. Andre played great and sometimes we don't talk about how good he is defensively, but right now he leads the country in defensive rebounds, can guard every position, and alters so many shots at the rim. He plays just as hard on the defensive end as he does on the offensive end. Deonte also played some good minutes for us and Mitch Morrissey had a solid game off the bench as well. Looking forward to getting back to our home court Wednesday against Coe. We struggled against Coe in our first game and we will need to improve in a few areas in order to win on Wednesday."
Simpson and Loras sit two games back as the Spartans have a three game lead over Central and Wartburg with just four conference games remaining. The Spartans host Coe at home on Wednesday, Feb. 10, travel to face Luther on Saturday, Feb. 13, continue on the road at Wartburg on Wednesday, Feb. 17 before facing Central at home on Senior Day on Saturday, Feb. 20.
| SCHOOL | IIAC | PCT | ALL | PCT | HOME | AWAY | NEUTRAL | STREAK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dubuque | 8-2 | 0.800 | 15-6 | 0.714 | 8-2 | 7-4 | 0-0 | W4 |
| Simpson | 6-4 | 0.600 | 13-8 | 0.619 | 6-2 | 6-6 | 1-0 | W1 |
| Loras | 6-4 | 0.600 | 11-10 | 0.524 | 7-2 | 3-7 | 1-1 | L1 |
| Central | 5-5 | 0.500 | 14-7 | 0.667 | 8-1 | 5-5 | 1-1 | L1 |
| Wartburg | 5-5 | 0.500 | 12-9 | 0.571 | 6-3 | 6-6 | 0-0 | L1 |
| Luther | 4-6 | 0.400 | 5-16 | 0.238 | 3-5 | 2-10 | 0-1 | W1 |
| Buena Vista | 3-7 | 0.300 | 8-13 | 0.381 | 4-5 | 4-7 | 0-1 | L4 |
| Coe | 3-7 | 0.300 | 8-13 | 0.381 | 6-3 | 2-8 | 0-2 | W1 |
