DUBUQUE, Iowa – In front a packed house and energetic crowd, the University of Dubuque men's basketball team dropped the Loras College Duhawks, 78-73.

The Spartans started off the game with a bang, throwing down three dunks in the opening six minutes to race out to an 11-5 lead. The Duhawk offense would begin to pick up steam in the middle portion of the first half when they turned  a 14-12 UD lead into a 21-14 Loras lead in a three minute span. UD answered right back with a 7-0 run of their own to even the score at 21 all at the 7:43 mark of the first half. The rest of the half and the early seconds of the second quarter turned into a back and forth affair until a Marcus McDaniel three gave UD a 41-38 lead with 18:18 remaining.

A thunderous dunk and foul for the Duhawks cut the UD lead to one point with 12 minutes remaining, however they missed the ensuing free throw to keep the UD lead at one. The Spartans responded in a big way with back-to-back and one layups from Michael Williams and Peter Ragen to push the lead back to seven and Cade Daugherty capped the run with a three pointer to give UD their biggest lead of the night.

UD would be able to hold the lead above a one possession game until Loras trimmed it to one with 3:46 remaining off a layup and free throw. A Ragen three on the next possesion put a sudden end to the Loras 7-0 run and lifted the Spartans back up four. The Duhawks would once again cut it to one at 73-72 at the 2:52 mark with the chance to take the lead when Dylan Hundley came up with a huge diving steal to force a jump ball to give possession back to the Spartans. Marcus McDaniel would go on to make four of UD's five free throws and the Spartans would lock down on defense over the remaining 2:52 to grab an 78-73 victory over their rival from down the street.   

With his clutch shots and free throws, McDaniel led the Spartans with 20 points on 7-12 shooting from the field. Despite both players battling foul trouble and eventually fouling out, Avery Butler and Peter Ragen both reached double figures in scoring with 14 and 11, respectively.  Michael Williams added nine points but was a force in the paint on defense as he blocked three Duhawks shots and corralled eight rebounds.

Notes
-UD led for 26:30, while Loras had the lead for just 9:07
-The Spartans outrebounded the Duhawks 47-37, leading to 11 second chance points
-Snapped a three game losing skid to the Duhawks

Up Next
The Spartans host another ranked opponent on Saturday when the top ranked team in the nation and defending national champions, Nebraska Wesleyan comes to town at 4:00 p.m. in the Stoltz Sports Center.