DUBUQUE, Iowa - The Elmhurst men's basketball team came up short in its 2016-17 season-opening contest after falling 104-102 at Loras College.

Elmhurst (0-1) led for nearly 30 minutes of play, but a three-pointer from Justin VanWabkee with just 2.7 seconds remaining helped lift Loras to the two-point victory.

The Bluejays never trailed in the opening half, scoring the game's first bucket and building a 33-23 lead with eight minutes to play following a three-pointer from Michael Plunk. The Duhawks slowly whittled the lead down to just two points with less than a minute to play in the half. A bucket from Ryan DiCanio pulled Loras (1-0) even at 45-45 with nine seconds remaining, but Jake Rhode knocked down a three-pointer to give Elmhurst a 48-45 lead at the break.

The second half was a back-and-forth affair that featured eight ties and a whopping 21 lead changes. Neither squad led by more than six points in the second half. Elmhurst built a 93-89 lead with just over four minutes to play, but a 6-0 run from Loras gave the Duhawks a 94-93 lead with 3:19 remaining. 

The lead changed hands six times over the next three minutes with Elmhurst taking a 99-98 lead after a rebound dunk from Jalen Loving. Loras quickly regained the lead on a lay-up from VanWambeke. 

Loving split a pair of free throws with just under a minute to play to even the score at 100-all. After a Loras miss, Rhode gave Elmhurst a two-point lead with a jumper in the lane with just 10 seconds remaining. The lead was short lived, however, as VanWambeke knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key with just 2.7 seconds remaining to put Loras in front 103-102. An Elmhurst turnover gave the ball back to Loras and the Duhawks' Danny Quinn split a pair of free throws with less than a second left to give Loras the three-point victory.

Despite the loss, the Bluejays' young roster showed tremendous promise as the squad shot 59.1 percent (39-of-66) from the field, including 42.9 percent (9-of-21) from three-point range. The Bluejays had their struggles from the foul line, hitting just 15-of-26 attempts (57.7 percent). 

Every member of Elmhurst's starting lineup was making their first career start for the Bluejays. Rhode was sensational for Elmhurst, scoring a game-high 29 points in his collegiate debut. The freshman point guard shot 8-of-14 from the floor and 12-of-16 from the foul line while adding four assists and three steals while not committing a turnover. Senior Caleb Mowry added a double-double, finishing with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Mowry shot 10-of-15 from the floor in the loss. Freshman guard Ryan Patton added 14 points for Elmhurst, shooting 6-of-7 from the field while collecting six rebounds for the Bluejays. Loving added 10 points and seven rebounds while Chris Parrilli chipped in with eight points. Dei'Ron DeLaRosa came of the bench to score seven for the Bluejays. 

Loras shot 46.5 percent from the field in head coach Chris Martin's debut. Martin, an All-American at Elmhurst and former assistant coach for the Bluejays, watched Demond George pour in a team-leading 28 points while shooting 10-of-17 from the field. VanWambeke added 18 points and six rebounds while DiCanio came off the bench to add 18 for the Duhawks. Quinn (13 points and seven rebounds) and Jake Toman (10 points) both reached double figures in scoring for Loras.

Elmhurst travels to Millikin University this weekend (November 18-19) to face Westminster and Greenville in the CCIW/SLIAC Challenge.