Men's Basketball Fend Off Luther
Feb 1, 2017
DECORAH, Iowa – The University of Dubuque men’s basketball team completed the season sweep of Luther College on Wednesday night with a 73-66 win.
The Spartans got off to a hot start, taking a quick 12-5 lead in the first four minutes of action. The Norse could not find a way to slow down the UD offense in the first half as the Spartans put up 43 points in the first half on 17-33 (51.5%) shooting from the field. However, even with the Spartans shooting well, their largest lead in the first half was only eight points, as they could not pull away from Luther, who shot 51.7% in the first half.
The offense slowed down in the second half for both teams, as they shot a combined 19-64. UD hit just eight field goals in the second half but they cranked up their defense, forcing the Norse into 8 turnovers in the half, while the Spartans only committed four turnovers for the entire game. The Spartans would be able to build their lead up to eight or 10 points multiple times but the Norse kept fighting their way back before eventually cutting the UD lead all the way down to one point with 5:54 remaining. After that point, the Spartans outscored the Norse 8-2, to pull out the road win.
Jamaree Atwater continues to be a scoring machine, scoring 20 more points tonight, making that 80 points in the last three games. Atwater ‘s 20 points, came on 7-13 shooting from the field, including three, three pointers, while also grabbing seven rebounds. Jake Weber was once again a dominate force, scoring 13 points and hauling in 13 rebounds. This was Weber’s 17th double-double of the season, which is second in all of NCAA DIII and only one behind the leader.
TJ Lake is continuing to return to form after missing significant time due to an illness, coming off the bench for 19 points (6-15 fg), while dishing out three assists. The Spartans also had two other players hand out three assists a piece, Deonte Newsome, who also came off the bench and Jake Weber.
The Spartans step out of conference play this weekend as they travel to the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Tipoff is set for 4:00 p.m.
