DUBUQUE, Iowa - The largest COVID-19 crowd of the season greeted the #1 seed University of Dubuque Spartans vs. #2 seed Buena Vista University on Saturday afternoon in the 2021 American Rivers Conference Tournament Championship on Jon Davison Court in Stoltz Sports Center. The host Spartans captured a thrilling home victory 78-64 after holding the Beavers to just 21 points in the final 20 minutes of play. It was the first time the Spartans met the Beavers in the conference tournament championship game.

The boisterous crowd witnessed what we all were expecting, a battle among two top basketball teams in the country. BV jumped out in the first half and were hitting from the outside and inside and would lead by as many as 14 with Michael Demers setting the pace in the first half before a late Spartan rally sliced their lead to five at halftime.

UD took advantage with Beavers leading scorer Michael Demers on the bench after a hard foul at 10:49 which left him with a cut to his head. The Beavers momentum appear to fade without him on the floor and UD would tie the game at 56-56 at 7:31. The Spartans grabbed their first lead in the second half at 6:48 on a deep three pointer by Sam Kilburg, 59-57. The Spartans would never trail after that and would stretch the score to their biggest lead of the game (14 points) with 2:26 to go. Patrick Mayfield hit two contested threes down the stretch to give UD an ever bigger edge late in the game and led the Spartans with 22 points. Peter Ragen added 15 points, seven rebounds, and four blocks to finish the tournament with an impressive 69 combined points (22-40 from the field, 12-24 from the three point area, and 13-16 at the free throw line.) Starters Levi Scheuermann sank four of six attempts from the three point arc and had 14 points as freshman Sam Kilburg finished with 11 points and four assists.

The two teams swapped leads seven times and were tied another five times. UD made 26-51 shots from the field and showed why they lead the nation in three point shooting and sank 14-27 attempts (51.9%) on Saturday.

The Spartans battled injuries, cancellations, COVID-19 quarantines, and would complete the 2021 season with a unblemished 14-0 overall mark (7-0 in A-R-C) winning the American Conference Tournament and the American Rivers Conference title. Head coach Robbie Sieverding (231-128 overall record/119-88 in league play in 14 seasons) last won the conference title in 2015-16. UD won the conference tournament championship in 2014-15 and 2012-13.

The American Rivers Conference All-Conference Team will be announced on Wednesday, March 17. Certainly the Spartans should add home hardware after capping off one of the most  impressive season's in school history.