ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - The #16-ranked University of Dubuque men's basketball team dropped their first contest of the season on the road at Augustana College (IL) by a 64-80 mark. The Spartans missed a couple of dunks in the opening half and were ice cold at the free throw line missing 13 free throws in their first loss since 2020.
UD's bench would score just 17 points as starter
Sam Kilburg led with 19 points off 6-11 shooting from the field and 5-11 at the charity stripe.
Peter Ragen scored 11 points and
Josh Hammer finished with 10 points off the bench. UD out rebounded the host Vikings 35-32.
Keegan Zimmerman led with nine boards with
Jaylin McCants grabbed eight rebounds.
The Spartans made 22-62 attempts from the field (35.5%), 5-22 from the three point area (22.7%), and 15-28 at the free throw line (53.6%).
The Spartans played just nine players in the loss and will look to get all five starters in double digit scoring when they travel to play the University of Northern Iowa Panthers on Sunday, Nov. 14 at 5 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN+ and will count for the Panthers, but is an exhibition game for the Spartans. UD won the first ever meeting with UNI in 1915-16 by a score of 25-24.
