WAVERLY, Iowa – In a game that came down to the final seconds, Wartburg men's basketball defended Levick Arena in its home opener on Tuesday, Nov. 16 with a 95-93 victory over Grinnell College.
The Pioneers jumped out to an early 11-5 lead over the Knights behind back-to-back baskets from Will Bebee and a three pointer from Jackson Leone. The Orange & Black responded with a 12-0 run to make the score 17-11 with a little under 14 minutes to go in the half. Grinnell continued its fast-paced attack and chipped away at the Knights' lead and would tie the game at 37 with two minutes left in the half. With under a minute in the half the Pioneers made it 45-40 with a Bebee three-pointer, but Wartburg would answer with a
Trent Allard layup to make it 45-42 Grinnell going into halftime.
The first five minutes of the second half was spent trading buckets with neither team able to pull away. With just over 10 minutes to go in the second half, a free throw from
Jack Molstead tied the game back up at 62. The Knights followed it up by quickly going a seven to zero run to make the score 69-62 after layups from John Keagan and
Codey Hicks. Wartburg would extend the lead to 11 points with 5:54 remaining. Grinnell continued to fight its way back into the game to make the score 95-93 and would attempt a go-ahead three with 5 seconds left but were unable to convert the attempt or the put-back attempt.
The Knights held on for a 95-93 win in a matchup of clashing styles. This game saw 11 ties throughout and 12 lead changes. Grinnell's run & gun style offense attempted 19 more field goal attempts than the Knights and 48 three-point attempts to Wartburg's zero. The Orange & Black dominated points in the paint 74-36 and shot the ball a lot more efficient with a team percentage of 62.7% compared to Grinnell's 39.7% from the field. Wartburg struggled with free throws, shooting just 52.5% after shooting 85% as a team the previous game.
"I give credit to Grinnell for running their system good throughout the game. We defended the ball well and ended up causing problems for them late in the game. Hats off to our guys for fighting hard early in the season." said head coach
Dick Peth.
Stat Leaders
Drew Olson was the high point man in today's contest with 23 points off 80% shooting from the field and 7/12 from the free throw line. The senior guard also added five assists, five rebounds, and four steals for the Knights.
Codey Hicks also shot 80% from the field for 16 points in just 15 minutes of game-time.
Molstead played 35 minutes for the Knights tonight and in his time recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 assists. The Charles City, Iowa native was 5/8 from the free throw line and added four steals and three rebounds to round out an all-around performance.
The leading rebounder for Wartburg was Allard, who grabbed one offensive and eight defensive rebounds for a total of nine on the night. Allard scored eight points, recorded one block, and one steal in his 21 minutes of play to help the Knights secure the victory.
Next Time Out
The Knights are in action again this week on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 19-20 as they host the 2021 Buzz Levick Tournament in Levick Arena. Games are scheduled for 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday.
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