WAVERLY, Iowa - Wartburg men's basketball will enter the American Rivers Conference tournament as the seventh seed and will match up with No. 2 Buena Vista University on Tuesday, March 9 at 6:30 p.m. in a quarterfinal contest in Storm Lake, Iowa inside the Siebens Fieldhouse. The Knights dropped the regular season contest against the Beavers by just four points and they will look to stop the three-game losing skid against BVU. 

The Knights closed out the regular season with two straight wins and clinched the No. 7 seed in this year's A-R-C tournament with a conference record of 2-4. Buena Vista secured the second seed with an overall record of 7-2 and a 6-2 ledger in conference play. 

Tuesday, March 9 - 6:30 p.m. - Storm Lake, Iowa - Siebens Fieldhouse - A-R-C Tournament Quarterfinals
Wartburg Knights (4-6, 2-4 A-R-C) at Buena Vista (7-2, 6-2 A-R-C)

Series Record: Wartburg leads 82-63
Last Five Meetings: 
Jan. 23, 2021 -- L, 78-82 (Waverly) 
Feb. 12, 2020 -- L, 67-91 (Waverly)
Dec. 7, 2019 -- L, 75-89 (Storm Lake) 
Feb. 13, 2019 -- W, 103-81 (Waverly)
Jan. 16, 2019 -- W, 90-78 (Storm Lake)

Attendance Policy
For the sports of basketball, wrestling, and volleyball, each participant (including student-athletes and coaches) will be permitted two immediate family members, or four immediate family members for a split family, to attend games in Siebens Fieldhouse. No admission fee will be charged to attend home events.
 
SPECTATORS WILL BE REQUIRED TO FOLLOW CAMPUS MASKING AND SOCIAL DISTANCING GUIDELINES. LEARN MORE HERE.

Season Notes
The Knights currently hold a 4-6 overall record and finished the year with two straight conference wins over Simpson and Luther. Wartburg is scoring 74.2 points per game and have a scoring margin of -0.1. The Orange & Black are shooting at a 43.2% clip from the floor, 32.4% from long range and 63.4% from the free-throw line. They are also out rebounding their opponents by 3.2 boards per contest and have an assist-to-turnover ratio of .9. 

Senior guard Max Smith Drahos paces the team in points with an average of nine a game while freshman Trent Allard has recorded a team-high six rebounds per contest, which ranks tenth in the conference. Sophomore guard Jack Molstead leads the program in assists and ranks sixth in the A-R-C with 3.3. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa native Smith Drahos is the vocal point on the defensive side with 1.6 steals, which is good for third best in the conference. 

Opponents are scoring an average of 74.3 points against the Knights while shooting 43% from the floor, 32.6% from 3-point land and 67.2% from the charity stripe. 

Conference Tournament Notes

• Wartburg won its last conference tournament in 2017, in which the No. 6 seeded Knights defeated No. 5 seeded Central, 89-85. The Orange & Black then went on to reach the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. 
• Last season, the No. 6 seed Wartburg reached the semifinals before being knocked out by No. 2 Coe College by a score of 103-75. 
• Wartburg has won two conference tournaments since the inception of the league tournament in 1999. 
• The Knights have won a conference-best 21 regular season titles with their last championship coming back in 2006. 
• Due to COVID-19 the A-R-C did not award a regular season champion and the winner of the tournament will be named the "A-R-C Men's Basketball Champion" 
• This year's tournament will feature all nine teams for the first time in history as usually only six programs participate. 

Buena Vista University
The Beavers come into the contest with an overall record of 7-2 and a conference ledger of 6-2, which is good for the second seed in the tournament. Buena Vista has won a conference-best seven A-R-C tournament titles with its most recent championship coming back in 2012. 

Buena Vista is averaging 80.3 points per game, which ranks fourth in the conference and have a scoring margin of 8.2. They are shooting 46.3% from the field, 32.1% from 3-point land and 65.9% from the foul line. The Beavers are out rebounding their opponents by 4.3 boards per game and have an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.5, which is the best in the A-R-C. 

Senior guard Michael Demers has tallied a team-best 18.1 points per contest, which ranks tied for fourth in the A-R-C. Freshman guard Zane Neubaum (12.7), senior forward Jake Thompson (11.4) and senior guard Garrett Sittner (10.9)  are all averaging double figures in scoring. The Storm Lake, Iowa native Demers paces Buena Vista in rebounding with 5.9. Sittner places third in the A-R-C with 3.8 assists per game. 

Defensively, Sittner and senior Brendan Gary share a team-high 1.3 steals per game. Opponents are scoring an average of 72.1 points against the Beavers and are shooting 45.6% from the field and 32.2% from long range.