Tim Calderwood, Sports Information Director
DUBUQUE, Iowa - The Loras College men's basketball team broke a three-game losing streak in a big way, knocking off Iowa Conference leader Coe College in a 76-68 decision at the Fieldhouse on Friday night.
The Duhawks got the win by doing something they haven't done all season, playing an entire game of zone defense. The constant zone forced the Kohawks to attempt 44 of their 68 shots from behind the arc. Coe converted on 14-of-44 three-pointers, or 32 percent.
The Kohawks made their first two attempts from the floor, building an early 6-0 lead after a Cory DeShaw three. The Duhawks took the lead for good when Greg King connected from outside with 15:23 to play in the first half, giving the Duhawks a 10-9 edge. Loras led by as many as nine points in the first half on their way to a 35-32 advantage at the break.
The Duhawks continued to keep Coe an arm's length away as they never got closer than five points the remainder of the contest. Kyle Kuentsling's three pointer with 4:02 to play made the score 63-58.
Loras went 9-for-12 at the free throw line in the final 1:38 as Coe continued to miss from the outside, and took the largest lead of the night, 74-61 after two Bobby Stineman free throws. The Duhawks were 24-out of-29 from the line (83 percent). Coe in contrast was just 2-3 from the charity stripe.
Stineman paced the Duhawks with 18. Jake Oeth added 16 off the bench to go with nine rebounds, and Greg King pitched in14. Luke Slater also crossed double figures as he kicked in 11 points.
Mike Kilburg led Coe with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting, but battled foul trouble a majority of the evening. He was the only Kohawk to shoot over 50 percent in the contest. Coe shot just 38 percent for the game. Coe (17-5, 10-3) fell back into a tie in the loss column with idle Wartburg in the battle for the conference title with three games remaining in their season.
The Duhawks (15-7, 8-5) return to action tomorrow evening as they play at home for the final time in the regular season. Simpson College comes to town for a 6:00 p.m. tip-off one game behind the Duhawks in the standings. The Storm defeated Loras 89-83 in overtime earlier this season in Indianola.
Newspaper Box Score Coe College vs Loras College 02/10/06 8:00 pm at Dubuque, Iowa -- Loras Fieldhouse LORAS COLLEGE 76, COE COLLEGE 68 COE COLLEGE (17-5, 10-3) KILBURG, Mike 8-12 2-3 18; HANNA, Rob 5-10 0-0 12; AXDAHL, Brad 4-16 0-0 11; DESHAW, Cory 3-11 0-0 9; BRUNGARD, Brian 3-7 0-0 9; KUENSTLING, Kyle 3-10 0-0 9; DILLON, Zach 0-0 0-0 0; BREITBARTH, Aaron 0-0 0-0 0; KEHE, Chris 0-1 0-0 0; PETERSEN, Kale 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-68 2-3 68. LORAS COLLEGE (15-7, 8-5) STINEMAN, Bobby 5-8 6-7 18; OETH, Jake 4-4 6-6 16; KING, Greg 5-9 2-2 14; SLATER, Luke 3-10 3-3 11; CENTELLA, Brian 0-2 6-9 6; BRADEN, Scottie 2-4 0-0 6; WHITE, Kyle 2-5 1-2 5; ROWE, Reggie 0-1 0-0 0; SULLIVAN, Gavin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-43 24-29 76. Coe College................... 32 36 - 68 Loras College................. 35 41 - 76 3-point goals-Coe College 14-44 (BRUNGARD, Brian 3-7; DESHAW, Cory 3-11; AXDAHL, Brad 3-14; KUENSTLING, Kyle 3-5; HANNA, Rob 2-6; PETERSEN, Kale 0-1), Loras College 10-19 (KING, Greg 2-4; BRADEN, Scottie 2-2; OETH, Jake 2-2; SLATER, Luke 2-6; STINEMAN, Bobby 2-4; CENTELLA, Brian 0-1). Fouled out--Coe College-None, Loras College-None. Rebounds-Coe College 35 (HANNA, Rob 9), Loras College 35 (OETH, Jake 9; WHITE, Kyle 9). Assists-Coe College 21 (DESHAW, Cory 6), Loras College 13 (CENTELLA, Brian 3; SLATER, Luke 3; STINEMAN, Bobby 3). Total fouls-Coe College 19, Loras College 11. A-875