ST. PAUL – After cruising to a 31-point victory on Friday, the University of Northwestern men's basketball team experienced its first loss of the 2013-14 season as the University of Dubuque handed the Eagles a narrow 85-81 final on Saturday night. The Spartans, 2013 NCAA Tournament participants who were picked to finish first in the Iowa Conference (IIAC) Preseason Coaches' Poll, used a strong presence both inside and outside to finish with a win on Day 2 of the ACR Homes Tip-Off Classic.

The score was close from the get-go as neither team could develop more than a four-point lead in the first ten minutes. Andre Norris hit consecutive free throws to give Dubuque an early 11-7 edge only for the Eagles' Matt Watnemo (Moorhead, Minnesota/Moorhead High School) to answer back with one of three first-half three-pointers. Northwestern started to gain some momentum at the 12 minute mark of the initial half as made baskets from Thomas Shephard (Crystal, N.D./Valley-Edinburg) and Will Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) spurred a 12-4 run to put the Eagles up by seven at 29-22. The lead remained at seven until two treys from the Spartans' Chris Frazier quickly turned the tide towards the visitors as Dubuque found itself with a five-point buffer with 1:09 remaining in the period. UNW's Porter Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School) banked in a three-point attempt at the buzzer to cut the Spartan advantage to 49-46 at the half.

Dubuque came out firing right away in the second as 6-7 Andre Norris started to find working room in the paint. Three Norris baskets had the Spartans' lead at 10, but the Eagles weren't going away without a fight. Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) scored three of his 12 second half points to start a Purple and Gold run as Eric Witthus (Chanhassen, Minn./Chanhassan) and Thomas Shephard (Crystal, N.D./Valley-Edinburg) followed with layups to tie the score at 64 points apiece. Witthus then found room for a layup to give the Eagles their first lead in over 15 minutes. Norris kept going though, hitting an inside jumper before getting himself to the free throw line multiple times to help get his team back out to a six-point edge thanks to another one of Frazier's five downtown makes on the night. UNW continued to push, but with every Northwestern make, Dubuque would convert its free throws on the other end as the Eagles were forced to foul. Carney's long two-point jumper with 15 seconds left was the last score of the night before the Spartans left the Ericksen Center with a four-point victory.

Both teams shot the lights out as Dubuque made 31 of its 51 attempts while the Eagles went 33 of 55 as each hovered at 60 percent at the final buzzer. The three-ball fell for both the Spartans and Northwestern as well. Frazier had five of his team's seven made treys, while four different UNW players made at least a pair of three-pointers as the home squad went 11-20 from downtown. The difference was in the paint, where Dubuque out-scored Northwestern 36-26, and points off of turnovers, a category that had the Spartans with a 23-11 margin. The Eagles committed 17 turnovers, compared to just 13 assists on the night.

Five different Northwestern players finished in double digits for points, with Carney's 14 leading the way. Morrell was a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor to add 12 points, a career high for the new freshman. Caleb Janson (Pierz, Minnesota/Pierz Healy) led all players with 14 rebounds for the Eagles.

For Dubuque (2-0), Norris finished with 24 points on nine makes in 13 attempts, while Frazier went 8-12 overall to add a healthy 23 points to the Spartans offense.

After taking Sunday off, Northwestern (1-1) will have one day to prepare for another home contest on Tuesday as the Eagles are scheduled to host local opponent Macalester College at 7:30 p.m.