WAVERLY - Three Knights scored in double-digits as Wartburg men's basketball opened its season with a 72-64 win over Cornell College Saturday afternoon. 
 
The Orange and Black were led in scoring by senior post Jacob Kuhlemeier (Rockwell), who scored 16 points. Both Davis Roquet (Middletown, Wis.) and Max Smith Drahos (Cedar Rapids) chipped in 12 points to pace the Knights in scoring. Roquet also led the team on the glass, with five rebounds.  
 
Both Smith Drahos and freshman Jack Molstead (Charles City) recorded a game-high two steals. Three different Knights recorded a block on Saturday's affair: Roquet, Tyler Zumbach (Anamosa) and Noah May (Downers Grove, Ill.).
 
Cornell scored the first basket of the game off of a layup to take a 2-0 lead, but the Knights took control for the remainder of the second half and led for the other 19 minutes. The Knights led by as many as ten points early in the first half, but the Rams fought all the way back to take a brief 55-53 with 6:34 left in the game. The Knights went on a run of their own, guided by three second half three pointers by Roquet and consecutive perfect free-throw trips by Smith Drahos. The Knights held firm down the stretch to earn an eight-point win.
 
While the Knights out-shot the Spartans from the field (45.5% - 39.2%), Cornell held the advantage in three-point shooting (29.6% - 18.8%) and free throw shooting (64% - 60%). The Knights also held the advantage in rebounds (33-33), blocks (3-1), and was even in assists (11-11).  
 
The Orange and Black will look to stay undefeated on the road against Grinnell on Tuesday, before returning to campus to participate in the Buzz Levick tournament next weekend.