The men’s basketball team opened Iowa Conference play a week ago just the way it wanted to — with an 80-71 road win over its cross-town rival, University of Dubuque.

The Spartans came into the game with the better record, 5-2, compared to 3-3 for the Duhawks, but Loras was not impressed. The Duhawks nearly led from start to finish, and they entered halftime with a 38-31 lead while making 50 percent of their shots from the floor.

UD battled back to take a 43-42 lead with 14 minutes remaining in the game, but its lead was short-lived. Loras responded and started to pull away for a double-digit lead midway through the second half, and it never looked back.

“Beating Dubuque was a great way to start the conference season,” said sophomore Tim Kelly. “It was a really fun environment to play in, and getting a road win in the IIAC is always big.”

Four Duhawks scored in double figures. Kelly led the team with 18 points, while sophomore Danny Pawelski added 12 points and six rebounds. Junior Tyson Handsaker scored 11 points, while senior Alex Brandt contributed 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

On Saturday, another conference foe, Buena Vista, invaded the Athletic and Wellness Center and escaped with a 77-69 win over Loras.

Loras, now 1-1 in the conference and 4-4 overall, jumped on Buena Vista early and held the lead throughout the first half. But the Beavers, now 2-0 in the conference and 4-3 overall, cut into Loras’ early lead and were trailing by just three points at the half.

The two teams played evenly though the first 12 minutes of the second half. But with the score knotted at 53, the Beavers scored nine straight points to grab the upper hand.

Loras kept the game close after that, but Buena Vista shot a blistering 67 percent from the floor in the second half, including seven-of-nine from 3-point land. In the meantime, Loras shot 39 percent from the field for the game.

Kelly again led the Duhawks in scoring with 18 points, and he also hauled down a team-high six rebounds. Junior Mike Gleason, who still leads the team in scoring overall, contributed 14 points.

“It’s a complete role reversal from last season,” Kelly said. “We had a great group of seniors last year, so I didn’t get a lot of on-court experience. They were great leaders for the program and I learned a lot from them.”

The Duhawks were scheduled to host the Wartburg Knights on Wednesday night in the AWC, but the game was moved back to tonight as a result of inclement weather.

“Our goals for the rest of the season are pretty simple: Go to work every day and get better,” Kelly added. “We feel that if we can do that, we’ll make a run at the IIAC title and go to the national tournament.”