Leading for over 35 minutes, the Central Men’s Basketball team knocked Loras College off of their home gymnasium in a 113-108 upset win in the Iowa Conference Tournament Semifinals.

Junior Jamel McKnight shouldered a heavy load for the six-seeded Dutch, scoring 31 points and hitting 13-14 of free throws, most of which came down a pivotal stretch in the 2nd half as they held of a DuHawk charge late.

Central has been a heavily featured player in the Iowa Conference Finals recently, with tomorrow’s game marking their 4th appearance in the championship game in five years, having won the title in 2016 and 2014, and taking 2nd last spring.

Central next travels to Lincoln, Nebraska, to take on regular season conference champions Nebraska Wesleyan, who sit at 23-3 overall and beat Central in both matchups–most recently a 104-80 on Valentine’s Day. If the Dutch pull off a major upset Saturday, they earn the conference’s automatic NCAA Division III Championship Tournament bid.

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