DUBUQUE, Iowa - The first of two meetings between the University of Dubuque men's basketball team and the Loras College Duhawks took place on Wednesday night on the campus of Loras College. The Spartans would drop 100 points on the Duhawks home court in a dominating 100-79 victory to take sole possession of first place in the A-R-C standings.

Alot was on the line entering Wednesday night for both teams as they each sat tied atop the conference standings at 6-1 each. The winner of this game would take sole possession of the top spot and be in a really good spot halfway through the conference slate. 

The game started about how anyone would expect this rivalry game to go as both teams traded baskets for much of the first half. With 5:12 left in the first half all tied at 31-31, the Spartans would go on a 12-1 run to lead by 11 before the Duhawks cut the lead to seven entering halftime. The Duhawks would trim the Spartans lead to four within the first four minutes of the second half, but from there the Spartans would get their lead back to double digits and would get their lead as large as 96-72 with 4:03 remaining in the game. An Eli Rogers pull-up jumper in the last few seconds gave the Spartans 100 total points for the game. 

Jaylin McCants continues to show why he is one of the best players in the conference finishing tonight with 31 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and four steals. With his 31 points, McCants now moves into seventh all-time in career scoring at UD. 

Even with foul trouble, Jacob Williams finished his night with 13 points and a perfect 9-9 at the free throw line. Jalen Scott had 13 points including three from three-point range in the first half. Scott also added five rebounds and four assists. Sunday John also ended with double figures adding 11 points. 

The Spartans dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Duhawks 36-19 which included eight offensive rebounds. From the field, the Spartans shot 33-59 (55.9%) and an even better 25-32 (78.1%) at the free throw line. There was a total of six ties and nine lead changes in the game before the Spartans pulled away in the second half.

Hear from Robbie Sieverding
"Our guys really executed and Jaylin had another monster game tonight. Jaylin has had an outstanding year and we finally are starting to get healthy as a group. It was a great atmosphere and proud of our guys for how they answered every run."

The Spartans now move to 13-4 overall and 7-1 in conference play. They now sit alone at the top of the conference standings with eight games remaining in the regular season. 

Up Next
The Spartans will return home on Saturday, January 25 to play host to the Simpson College Storm at 4:00 p.m. from the Stoltz Sports Center.