Box Score Box Score

DUBUQUE, Iowa - The Elmhurst College men's basketball team held off a late charge from Loras College to score a 72-66 road victory over the Duhawks.

The victory was Elmhurst's third straight win and the Bluejays topped the .500 mark for the first time this season moving to 4-3 on the season.

Elmhurst led 32-28 at the break and quickly built a nine-point second half lead, but Loras (2-6) used a 12-3 run to take a 52-51 lead midway through the second half. The two teams traded buckets for the next eight minutes as the lead changed 10 times.

Trailing by a point with less than 2:30 to play, Zack Boyd buried a three-pointer to put Elmhurst on top 65-63. After a Loras miss, Boyd added a pair of free throws to give Elmhurst a four-point cushion. Mike McCurdy hit a pair of free throws after a Loras miss to extend the Bluejays' lead to six points with a minute to go.

Loras sliced the lead in half on Brian Gaughan's three-pointer with 57 seconds left. After a missed Elmhurst jumper, the Duhawks had a chance to tie the game with under 20 seconds to go, but McCurdy stripped Gaughan off the ball at the top of the key. McCurdy dove on the loose ball and called timeout with eight seconds left. The Bluejays hit 3-of-4 free throws in the closing seconds to earn the six-point victory.

Boyd led the Bluejays and all scorers with 24 points while shooting 9-of-15 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from downtown. Boyd added seven rebounds in the win. Jerome Robinson chipped in with 15 points while McCurdy chipped in with 13 points, including eight from the foul line. Nick Sanford added nine points and a game-high eight rebounds for the Bluejays.

Gaughan and Tim Kelly scored 12 points apiece to pace the Duhawks in the loss. Taylor Baxter and Jordan Harrelson scored eight points apiece.

Elmhurst shot 43.1 percent (25-of-58) from the floor, including 50.0 percent (6-of-12) from downtown. The Bluejays were sharp from the foul line, hitting 16-of-20 free throw attempts.

Loras shot 37.7 percent (20-of-53) from the field. The Duhawks spent most of their time shooting from the outside, hitting 10-of-30 three-point attempts.

Elmhurst travels to Westminster College on Saturday, December 10.