Spartans Stun #18 Duhawks on Road
Jan 30, 2019
DUBUQUE, Iowa – The University of Dubuque men's basketball team took down Loras, 96-94 in overtime and thrilling fashion to complete the season sweep of the Duhawks.
The Spartans built early leads of 6-2 and 8-7 before the game was five minutes old, but then the Spartan offense went cold. UD went nearly four and a half minutes with no field goals but the Spartan defense stepped up, only allowing Loras to grab a five point lead and nothing more.
Marcus McDaniel finally snapped the Spartan drought as he drilled a corner three pointer at 10:50 mark to put UD back ahead 14-13. The two teams continued to trade blows and alternated leads 14 times for the remainder of the first half, as you would expect in a crosstown rivalry game, with two Loras free throws right before the end of the half giving the Duhawks a 32-30 lead at halftime.
Midway through the second half, UD fell behind 60-51 after a Loras trey. UD’s Marcus McDaniel and Deonte Newsome answered with back-to-back threes before Newsome came up with a steal and lay-up to quickly cut the nine point deficit back to one in less than one minute of game time. A Peter Ragen fast break lay-up gave the Spartans the lead for a brief time with 7:40 remaining and once again the teams continued to trade leads.
With the score all even at 65 all with 6:30 remaining, the Spartans made their push getting a three pointer from Avery Butler and two straight field goals from Newsome to build a seven point lead with under five minutes to play.
Duhawks slowly chipped away and cut the UD lead down town 78-77 with 46.6 remaining. After a UD missed shot and committed a turnover, the Spartans fouled the Duhawks with 2.9 remaining to give Loras two shots. After missing the front end, Loras made the second one tie the game at 78 and force overtime after Avery Butler's shot went off the rim at the buzzer.
In overtime and the score knotted at 88 all, Avery Butler grabbed an offensive rebound, converted on a lay-up and got fouled for the old school three point play to put UD ahead 91-88. Loras would cut it back to one after a lay-up of their own but McDaniel sunk a three pointer with 41.4 second remaining to get the UD lead up to a two possession game. Up two with 8.3 seconds remaining, Dylan Hundley went to the free throw line with a chance to put the game away for the Spartans but missed both, leading to a Loras timeout with 5.7 seconds remaining. However, the Spartans were able to get one last stop and steal the road win, 96-94.
Deonte Newsome led the Spartans with a team-high 28 points on a very efficient 11-13 field goals. Newsome also made his presence felt on the defensive end with two steals. Four other Spartans reached double-figures in scoring to go along with Newsome. Marcus McDaniel had 21, Avery Butler pitched in 17 and Peter Ragen and Marcus Williams both had 10.
The Spartans return home on Saturday afternoon for a contest against the Central College Dutch at 4:00 p.m.
