DUBUQUE, Iowa - The #7-ranked University of Dubuque men's basketball team would win their 2021 American Rivers Conference quarterfinal match-up on Tuesday night against the Nebraska Wesleyan University Prairiewolves 65-58.

If you look at the final stats and read where three starters would combine for a 3-22 shooting from the field, you might guess the team would lose. Fortunately the Spartans senior guard from Orland Park, Ill., Peter Ragen, stepped up to carry the load and finished the night with nearly half of the team's points. Ragen 9-18 from the field, 4-10 from the three point area, and sank 10-12 free throw attempts to finish with a game high 32 points and six rebounds. Levi Scheuermann led rebounds with seven and added seven points.

The two teams swapped the lead six times and were tied seven times. The #8-seeded Prairiewolves led for nearly five minutes with their largest lead being three points at the 12:41 mark of the first half. UD's largest lead was nine with just over a minute to go in the game.

Quarterfinal scores:
Wartburg College -70 at Buena Vista University - 96
Central College - 97 at Loras College - 95 in OT
Simpson College - 88 at Coe College - 94

The top-seeded Spartans will face the #4 seed Coe College Kohawks on Thursday evening in Stoltz Sports Center at 7 p.m.in the 2021 A-R-C Tournament Semifinals. The other half of the bracket will showcase #6 seed Central College at #2 seed Buena Vista University at 7 p.m. in Storm lake, Iowa.

UD (12-0 overall, 7-0 in A-R-C) will face a Kohawk team (6-4 overall, 3-4 in A-R-C) who were led by a trio of double-digit scorers on Tuesday night. Jared Kruse led the Kohawks scoring with 28 points, Sam Auen had 22, and Cael Schmitt 21 points. The Spartans will need to keep the Kohawks off  the free line after they sank 18-20 attempts (90%) in the quarterfinals. Look for the Kohawks to stick with their starting five on Thursday night, after their bench would only add 11 points on Tuesday.