By Tim Calderwood, Assistant Sports Information Director
DUBUQUE, Iowa - The Wartburg College Knights, ranked 21st in the nation by D3Hoops.com scored a 71-59 victory over Loras at the Loras Fieldhouse to snap the Duhawks nine-game winning streak and claim first place in the Iowa Conference all to themselves.
The Knights rode the hot shooting of Jason Steege all night. Steege scored a career-high 31 points to pace Wartburg. He connected on four of his eight three-point attempts. Loras opened an early 8-2 lead, but Wartburg charged back and took the lead at the 14:50 mark of the first half when Nate Schmidt connected on a three-pointer. The Knights never trailed the rest of the game.
Wartburg led by as many as 15 points in the first half, but staked a nine-point lead, 37-28 at the half. The Duhawks made the game close on a few occasions, trailing by just three at 57-54 with 6:04 left, and again down three with 4:45 remaining at 59-56. The Knights made 12 out of their final 13 free throws to ice the game.
Loras struggled from the floor all night long. After making 14 three-pointers against Buena Vista on Tuesday, the Duhawks connected on just five against the Knights. Jeff Ludovissy led the way with 15 points before fouling out. Greg King added 10.
Wartburg (15-3, 9-0) extended their win streak to nine, and opened up a one-game lead on the Duhawks in the conference. The game was played in front of a capacity crowd of 1,100 fans at the Loras Fieldhouse.
Loras (12-4, 6-1) will look to start another winning streak when the Duhawks play host to Coe College tomorrow night at 6 p.m.