WAVERLY, Iowa – Wartburg men's basketball defeated Wisconsin Lutheran College 78-59 to win the Buzz Levick Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday, Nov. 20. The win moves Wartburg to 4-0 to start the 2021-22 season and 3-0 at Levick Arena.
In a battle of two unbeaten teams, the game got under way with an eight to three run by WLC after back-to-back three pointers from Drew Bernhagen, who was zero for five in the semifinal game shooting the three. The Knights would take the lead after a steal and back-to-back layups from
Codey Hicks. Wartburg hit three pointers on two consecutive possessions to push the lead to 20-11 Wartburg with just over 14 to play in the half.
The Orange & Black would quickly go up double digits and they never looked back the rest of the half. At its largest point the lead grew to 23 points, but the Knights went into halftime leading by 20 with a score of 47-27.
The Warriors made four free throws to begin the second half to cut the lead to 18 two minutes into the second half. WLC relied heavily on the three-point shot in this contest, but it was not able to keep them in the game in the second half. The Warriors continued to fight, but the most they could cut into the lead was two times in the half they cut the lead to 16. WLC finished the game on a five nothing run to make the final score 78-59.
This was another balanced offensive showing for the Knights, with five players in double digit scoring. The Orange & Black shot 62.3% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc in the championship matchup. The Knights have been dominant in points in the paint this tournament with a total of 92 points between the two games. Wartburg is now averging 83.5 points per game through four games, while holding opponents to an average of 68.5 points per game.
The Knights' defense had another strong performance in the championship game holding the Warriors to 31% from the field and just 16% from three after the Warriors had shot 50%+ from the field and 34.8% from three point range the game before. Jacob Stoltz scored 30 against Cornell but was held to nine points from 20% shooting from the field against Wartburg. The Knights had a rebound advantage of 46-31 over the Warriors and turned 15 offensive rebounds into 11 second chance points.
Game Leaders
Hicks was the leading scorer for the Knights tonight with a total of 18 points off 9/10 shooting from the field in just 18 minutes of play. The junior center also recorded six rebounds in the contest. Hicks is now averaging 12.5 points per game along with six and a half rebounds per game.
Jack Molstead led the Orange & Black in both assists and rebounds in the championship game with six assists and nine boards. The junior guard shot 50% from the field and added 12 points for the Knights offensively and added on steal on the defensive end. Molstead is averaging 12.8 points per game this season as well as a team-high 7.8 assists per game.
Both
Keagan John and
Drew Olson scored 15 for the Knights today, but John shot more efficiently, going six of seven and one for one beyond the arc. The New Hampton, Iowa native also added four assists and two steals for the Orange & Black. Olson shot 66.7% from both the field and from three in a team-high 30 minutes of play. The senior guard was able to add five assists and six rebounds in the win.
The Knights had two players selected to the All-Tournament team in Olson and Molstead. Molstead was selected as the tournament MVP after averaging 12.5 points per game, six assists per game, and five and half rebounds per game in the tournament. The senior guard shot 56.3% from the field in the two tournament games and 33.3% from three.
The 4-0 start is the best for the Knights since the 2018-19 season.
Next Time Out
The next time the Knights are in action is Tuesday, Nov. 23 to open American Rivers Conference play against the University of Dubuque. The game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off in Dubuque, Iowa.
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