DUBUQUE, Iowa - Thursday evening the #7-ranked University of Dubuque men's basketball team jumped out to an 11-0 start and never looked back in the 2021 American Rivers Conference Semifinals. The Spartans would end the night with a 10 point victory over the Coe College Kohawks, credit the Kohawks who never stopped clawing their way back. UD never trailed, but Coe kept the game within striking distance and would slice the lead to just three or four points throughout.
The Spartans defense would hold two Kohawks starters to double digit scoring. Jared Kruse led the visitors with 15 points and Cael Schmitt 10 points. Just two days earlier the duo finished the quarterfinals scoring 28 and 21 points respectively.
Peter Ragen entered Thursday night, a slim seven points shy of reaching the 1,000 point mark in his Spartans career. He would quickly put that away in the starting minutes of the game after hitting a three pointer at 16:25 to reach eight points and pushing the Spartans lead to 11-0. He becomes just the 24th Spartan to reach the milestone and finished with a game leading 22 points. Ragen has an impressive two game tournament total of 54 points (17-30 from the floor, 9-19 from beyond the three point arc, 11-14 from the free throw line).
"Scoring my 1,000th points doesn't mean that much to me," Ragen commented after the game. "It's more important about getting that championship ring on my finger on Saturday."
Freshman
Sam Kilburg ended the night with 13 points after sinking 6-12 attempts.
Patrick Mayfield added 11 points and was 6-7 at the free throw line. The Spartans made 26-60 shots, 9-25 at the three point area, and sank 12-16 free throw attempts.
"It was a great college basketball game tonight and we are fortunate to be moving on," said head coach
Robbie Sieverding. "Very proud of all this group has accomplished and excited for them to get the opportunity to play in a conference championship game on Saturday. Peter really got us going early and made some big plays throughout the game. We are excited to be playing one more game and know BV will be just as tough on Saturday."
The Spartans are currently the best three-point shooting team in all of Division III, shooting 44.9% from the three on the season. UD ranks in the top-20 in all of Division III in several other categories including: scoring margin (13
th), free-throw attempts (18
th), free-throws made (16
th), field goal percentage (18
th), total blocks (20
th), turnover margin (12
th) and turnovers per game (13
th).
Thursday's victory extends UD's conference tournament record to 13-9, since their first appearance in 2005. UD leads BV 77-72 in all time victories. The Spartans played in the conference championship game in 2011 (L 48-57 at Luther College), 2013 (W 73-60 over Wartburg College), and 2015 (W 81-73 over Wartburg). Saturday's game will be the first time UD will face BVU for a conference tournament championship. The Spartans most recent best start was 16-0 in 2013-14.
Championships Match-up Saturday, March 13
Stoltz Sports Center - Jon Davison Court
Dubuque, Iowa
#2 Buena Vista University (9-2) at #1 University of Dubuque (13-0) at 4 p.m.
Semifinals Results Thursday, March 11
#1 University of Dubuque 73, #4 Coe College 63
#2 Buena Vista University 81, #6 Central 76
Quarterfinals Results Tuesday, March 9
#1 University of Dubuque 65, #8 Nebraska Wesleyan University 58
#4 Coe College 94, #5 Simpson College 88
#6 Central College 97, #3 Loras College 95 (OT)
#2 Buena Vista University 96, #7 Wartburg College 70
