By Tim Calderwood, Assistant Sports Information Director
DUBUQUE, Iowa – The Loras College men’s basketball team lost its second consecutive game, falling at home to Coe College 78-59. The loss dropped the Duhawks even with Buena Vista, whom the Duhawks defeated on Tuesday, for second in the Iowa Conference two games behind conference leader Wartburg.
The loss was the worst margin of defeat for the Duhawks this season, with the previous coming in a 71-54 loss to UW-Platteville. Loras fell behind 13-2 with 14:39 left in the first half and never led in the game, trailing 36-27 at the half.
Loras could get no closer than five the rest of the way. After cutting the margin to 53-47 with 8:11 left, Coe proceeded to go on a 12-0 run to once again seize control.
Coe relied heavily on hot shooting from the perimeter. The Kohawks connected on 13-of-30 three-point attempts (43.3 %), and shot 45.3 percent (24-53) from the floor in the game. Jimmy Ernst came off the bench to lead the Duhawks in scoring with 16 points. Ernst was a near perfect 6-of-7 from the field including four three-pointers. Greg King added nine.
Coe (9-9, 5-4) was led by Kyle Kuenstling’s 19. Seth Hamilton added 15, while Nick Wilkins contributed 13.
The Duhawks split the season series with Coe, and get only a day off before its next game. Loras (12-5, 6-2) will travel to Cornell to make up a snowed-out game from January 22 at 7:00 p.m. in Mt. Vernon on Monday.