CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - For the 11th time in program history, the University of Dubuque men's basketball team became A-R-C regular season champions on Wednesday night, clinching the No. 1 seed in next week's conference tournament with a narrow 78-75 victory over the Coe College Kohawks. 

The Spartans got out to an early 20-13 lead, but the Kohawks stretched out a 25-11 run over the final 12:45 of the first half to flip the seven point lead in favor of the Kohawks at 38-31. The Spartans were no stranger to early deficit's as last time out against Central the Spartans found themselves down seven at the half in that game.

The Kohawks would open the second half with their biggest lead at 46-35. Over the next 3:08 of game time the Spartans would go on a 12-0 to reclaim the lead at 47-46. After taking the lead it was a constant back-and-forth battle until the final two minutes where the Spartans had a seven point advantage at 71-64 with 1:44.

However, the Spartans would make it very interesting in the closing seconds after making a free throw to go up 78-72 with six seconds left.The Kohawks would then knock down a quick three-pointer with one second left. On the ensuing possession the Spartans would throw away the ball and give the Kohawks a last second shot and it nearly dropped to send the game to overtime. 

Jacob Williams had a career night scoring 27 points on 11-16 shooting amd was able to grab seven rebounds. Grady Thompson ended his night with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Sunday John added 10 points and six boards. 

The Spartans shot much better in the second half and improved their shooting night to 25-56 (44.6%) and got to the line 37 times, making 70.3% of them. There was a total of six ties and six lead changes throughout the game.

Hear from Robbie Sieverding
"What a game. Our guys found a way in the second half but it wasn't pretty down the stretch. We need to execute better but happy to come away with a win  against a very good Coe team. Jacob Williams was impressive all night and we needed him with Jaylin in foul trouble and then fouling out early. Really proud of how this group has improved and stuck together. Regular season championships are gold and couldn't be prouder of this team. We still have goals ahead and our guys are excited for the upcoming challenges."

The Spartans improve to 19-5 overall and 13-2 in conference play and have clinched the No. 1 seed in the A-R-C conference tournament. 

Up Next
The Spartans will finish the regular season at home against Loras College on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. from the Stoltz Sports Center.