Freshman Point guard Connor Mooney goes for a free throw. He led the Duhawks with 20 points.
To say the least, it was a topsy-turvy week for the men’s basketball team. Without a doubt, Tuesday night’s season-ending 74-65 home loss to Wartburg was hard to stomach.
A week ago, the men’s basketball was flying high, celebrating a last-second road victory over Wartburg that gave the Duhawks sole possession of second place in the conference. The Duhawks only needed to beat Luther at home Saturday to secure a No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the Iowa Conference Tournament.
But Luther had other ideas and defeated Loras, 76-68. The loss dropped Loras into a three-way tie for second place with Buena Vista and the University of Dubuque. Because BV beat Loras twice in conference play, BV gained the No. 2 seed for the tournament ahead of Loras.
So, going into postseason play, Loras had to fight a two-headed monster. First, the Duhawks had to shake off a disappointing Senior Day loss to Luther. Secondly, Wartburg would be highly motivated after Loras ruined its own Senior Day game.
Regardless of who had more motivation, Tuesday’s game came down to shooting touch. Loras had one of its worst shooting performances of the season, hitting just 32 percent of its shots from the floor. The Duhawks also came into the game as the best-shooting 3-point team in the conference, but they made just 4-of-22 (18 percent) of their 3-point attempts.
Connor Mooney stays tough while going for the lay-up.
The lone bright spot was first-year guard Connor Mooney, who matched his career high, 20 points, set just a week ago on Wartburg’s home court. No other Loras player finished with double digits.
Meanwhile, Wartburg Kelly McCarville lit up the Duhawks for 25 points, most of which came from inside the paint. Unlike Loras, Wartburg had no problem putting it in the basket, shooting 55 percent from the floor and from 3-point land.
Tuesday night’s game was a rematch of a thrilling game last week in Waverly. Junior Mike Gleason’s drilled a 3-pointer with 4 seconds to play on Wartburg’s home floor a week ago to give the Duhawks an 82-80 victory. Mooney scored 20 points and dished out a game-high seven assists — enabling him to surpass the century mark for assists in a season. Gleason, who sank the winning shot, added 11 points for Loras, while sophomore center Dan Pawelski finished with 14 points.
But Coach Greg Gorton was especially proud of the play from the bench in last week’s win. He credited junior forward Travis Guy, who scored 16 points, and senior forward Jason Abbuhl, who sank a crucial 3-pointer with less than a minute to play, for providing a spark when the team needed it the most.
The Duhawks trailed 80-79 with eight seconds to go and Wartburg at the free-throw line, but Wartburg’s Jordan Sathoff missed the front end of the one-and-one to give Loras life. Guy hauled in the rebound and raced the ball up the court, then found Gleason open behind the 3-point line for the game-winner.
The dramatic shot now can be seen on YouTube, thanks to an assist from the duhawks.com team.
Gorton does not take any credit for the play that ended Wartburg’s regular season on a down note.
“The play off the free throw was completely about kids making plays on their own,” he said. “We played a great offensive game against Wartburg and just ended up making one more big play than they did. Overall, it was a great game in a tough environment on the road.”
But three days later, Luther dealt Loras a devastating blow of its own — a regular-season-ending loss at home. Adding insult to injury, it was Senior Day for Abbuhl, Alex Brant and John Johann.
“Senior Day is my favorite game of the year,” Gorton said. “ It starts with the tears of having to say goodbye to three great seniors and their families. This game ended with us losing, and I felt bad for the seniors. I always want these players to remember Senior Day and, unfortunately, they won’t forget that loss.”
On the positive side, the three seniors played solid games, as they combined for 22 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. But the Duhawks, as a team, fell behind early and never recovered.
“We allowed (Luther) a chance to see some early open shots,” Gorton said. “They hit them, which led to a confidence they never relinquished. Luther is a great defensive team and they know what it takes to get stops in our league. We put ourselves in position to have to play great in the second half, and we didn’t.”
The young Duhawks finished the regular season in a tie for second place in the conference despite being expected to finish no better than sixth.The Duhawks finished with a 15-11 overall record and were 10-6 in the conference.
