DUBUQUE, Iowa - The 2023-2024 men's basketball season began on Saturday afternoon for the University of Dubuque Spartans as a dominate second half both offensively and defensively propelled the Spartans to a 76-52 season opening win over the Blackburn Beavers.
The Spartans would struggle early offensively from the perimeter as they went 1-11 from beyond the arc and were 29% from the field. Shooting aside, the Spartans were able to stay within three at the half 31-34. The second half would start out with Blackburn leading by as many as six which was their largest lead of the game at 36-42. The Spartans would then go on a mini 7-0 run to take the lead 43-42 with just under 15 minutes to play. With the Spartans ahead 50-48 at the 11:53 mark of the second half, the Spartans would go on a 23-0 run until 1:49 left in the game. The Spartans defense was able to hold Blackburn scoreless for over half of the second half, which was a credit to the stout defense by the Spartans that made every shot difficult by the opposition.
Jaylin McCants scored a game-high 21 points on 6-13 shooting that included 9-13 from the free throw line. McCants was also able to grab 13 rebounds including five offensive boards to lead the Spartans. A trio of Spartans had nine points in the game as
Sam Kilburg,
Brock Simon, and
Dylan Anderson who are all returners from last season. Newcomer
Grady Thompson was a perfect 2-2 from three on his way to eight points to start his Spartans career.
Taydem Arguello and
Garrett Baumhover also made their Spartan debuts and scoring their first points in the blue and white.
"I thought Blackburn did a good job in the first half and they executed much better than us. We put together a very good second half and our defense was the key to the second half. We had several newcomers play their first game so it was good to get one under their belt. Tuesday will present a really good challenge at Benedictine" stated
Robbie Sieverding after today's win.
The Spartans dominated the points off turnovers battle 23-0 and fast break points 17-4. The Spartans led for 26:12 throughout the game.
The Spartans start the season 1-0 overall.
Up Next
The Spartans will travel to face Benedictine University next Tuesday, November 14 at 7:00 p.m.
