DUBUQUE, Iowa - The #4 seed University of Dubuque men's basketball team got everything from the #5 seed Central College Dutch on Tuesday night in the first round of the A-R-C Men's Basketball Tournament. A late run by the Spartans in the second half propelled them to a 77-73 win to advance to the A-R-C Semifinals on Thursday. 

It was all Jaylin McCants in the first six minutes of the game on the offensive end of the floor, scoring the Spartans first nine points of the game. Central led by as many as four in the first half and led by three with under a minute to go before the half, but Kilburg's two made three-pointers in the first half came on the final two possessions to snag a 35-32 lead at the half. 

McCants got the opening bucket of the second half, but the Dutch went on a 6-0 run to reclaim the lead at 38-37. All knotted at 42-42 with 14:55 left, the Dutch went on a 8-0 run to hold their biggest lead of the game at 42-50. The Spartans didn't falter responding with a 10-2 run capped off by a Taydem Arguello three-pointer to tie the game at 52-52 halfway through the second half.

Central held a 54-59 lead with 7:45 left when Sunday John entered the game. John then went on a personal 6-2 run to cut within one. On the following possession, McCants got the steal and finished on the other end with an emphatic dunk to take the lead back at 62-61 with 5:28 remaining. The Dutch hit a three to retake the lead, but then John was at it again lining one up from the outside the retake the one point lead. Both teams would trade buckets over the next few possessions, but after trailing 67-68 late in the game, that would be the last time the Spartans trailed. Brock Simon answered with a layup and then a huge three-pointer with a minute and a half left would put them up 72-68. Arguello and Kilburg hit free throws down the stretch to seal the first round victory. 

McCants finished with a double-double going for 23 points and 10 rebounds in a full 40 minutes of action. Simon added 16 points, five rebounds, and four assists. John was key for the Spartans in the second half scoring 12 of his 15 points in the final 20 minutes. 

The Spartans finished 28-56 (50%) from the field and hit critical free throws going 12-14 (85.7%). In a back and forth game, there was 11 ties and 24 lead changes. 

Hear from Robbie Sieverding
"That was a tough physical game and we were fortunate to hang on. Sunday made some plays offensively in the second half and Brock hit a big three late in the game. They present some challenges obviously with their size but I thought overall we did a solid job. Taydem was also able to make some big free throws down the stretch to ice the game. Looking forward to hanging out with the guys for a few more days and hopefully we can step up to the challenge in Lincoln."

The Spartans are now 21-5 overall on the season and advance to the A-R-C Tournament Semifinals for the fifth straight season (*excludes 2020 COVID year). 

Up Next
The Spartans will travel to Nebraska to face the #1 seed Nebraska Wesleyan University Prairie Wolves in the conference tournament semifinals on Thursday, February 22 at 6:00 p.m.