PELLA, IA – The Wartburg College Knights men's basketball team (7-5 overall, 1-2 A-R-C) will kick off the New Year by traveling to face the Central College Dutch (4-8, 1-2) on Saturday, Jan 5 at 4 p.m.
 
Follow the Knights
Click here to watch a live stream of the Knights taking on the Dutch, provided by Central College.
Click here to follow live stats of the game, provided by Central College.
 
The Series
The two American Rivers Conference foes have met a total of 137 times, with the Knights owning the all-time series lead at 85-52. The last time the two programs met was on Feb. 17, 2018, where the Knights escaped with a 93-92 victory when then-junior guard Jaran Sabus (Urbandale) connected on back-to-back free throws with 19 seconds left to lift the Knights to victory. This is the first matchup of the season between Central and Wartburg.
 
Wartburg
The Orange and Black are coming off a 78-70 loss to the Bethel University Royals on Dec. 30. Leading the A-R-C and the Knights in scoring is Sabus at 21.9 points per game, while shooting 57% from the field and 82.8% from the free throw line. Trailing Sabus in scoring is fellow senior guard Cam Kickbush (Reinbeck) with 13.1 points per game, sophomore guard Max Smith Drahos (Cedar Rapids) at 10.8 points per contest and senior center Josh Gehling (Dyersville) with 9.3 points per game. Sabus leads the team in rebounding (min. 10 games played) with 5.6 boards per game, followed by Gehling at 5.3 per game.
 
The Knights are 1-3 in road games this season, including 0-1 in road conference contests. The victory would be the first conference win for Wartburg since Nov. 28, where the Knights defeated the Simpson College Storm 92-91 at home.
 
Career Record Watch
Sabus' performance over the month of December has brought his career scored points total to 1,296, which is good for 14^th all-time in program history. Sabus trails 13^th place by 13 points (1,309), 12^th place by 44 points (1,340) and 11^th place by 48 points (1,348). By averaging over eight free throw attempts per game, Sabus has had plenty of chances to move up in the career made free throw list, where he currently stands at third in program history with 400 makes. He trails second place by 50 makes (450) and first by 124 makes (524).
 
Kickbush has connected on 33 three-point shots this season, which brings his career total to 198, a mark that's good for fourth in program history. Kickbush trails third place by five (203), second place by 20 (218) and first by 25 treys (223).
 
Central College
The Dutch are coming off of a 93-74 conference loss to the University of Dubuque (10-3, 3-1) on Wednesday evening. Leading the Dutch in scoring is junior guard Jaden Moody with 16.6 points per game, followed by junior forward Seth Wood with 13.8 points per game, senior guard Jamel McKnight at 13.3 and sophomore guard Adam Finn at 10.9 points per contest. Leading the team and conference in rebounding is Wood, who pulls n 8.9 boards per game. Central has been outscored 1001 to 971 from its opponents this season.
 
The Dutch are coached by Craig Douma. He is assisted by Obinna Agomo and Kent Henderson.
 
National Stat Rankings
The Orange and Black are ranked in the top-100 of eight statistical categories, which the NCAA updated Thursday. The Knights are 21^st in field goal percentage (49.7%), 24^th in free throw percentage (76.7%), 71^st in three-point field goal percentage (37.7%), tied for 72^nd in free throws made (191), tied for 81^st in scoring margin (7.9 ppg), tied for 84^th in rebound margin (4.4), 89^th in scoring offense (81.7 ppg) and are tied for 95^th in personal fouls per game (16.9).
 
Wartburg has three players in the top-100 of 10 statistical categories. Senior guard Jaran Sabus is tied for eighth in free throws made (82), ranked 11^th in free throw attempts (99), tied for 28^th in total points scored (263), 29^th in points per game (21.9), tied for 63^rd in total field goals made (85), 90^th in field goal percentage (57%) and is tied for 94^th in total assists (50). Senior guard Cam Kickbush is tied for 93^rd in three-point field goal attempts with 83, while sophomore guard Max Smith Drahos is tied for 60^th in total steals (25) and is tied for 89^th in steals per game (2.08).