WAVERLY, Iowa – Wartburg men's basketball looks to bounce back after Wednesday's loss with an American Rivers Conference matchup against Simpson College at Levick Arena on Saturday, Jan. 29. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. following the women's game.
Saturday, Jan. 29 – 4:00 p.m. –
Waverly, Iowa –
Levick Arena
Wartburg Knights (14-4, 7-2 A-R-C) vs Simpson Storm
(4-14, 1-8 A-R-C)
Watch Live | Live Stats
Last Time Out
The Orange & Black were defeated by the University of Dubuque 59-42 on Wednesday, Jan. 26. The Spartans were able to hold the Knights to season lows in both field goal shooting and three-point shooting with marks of 24.2% and 11.1% respectively.
The contest got under way with strong defensive pressure on both sides that made scoring hard to come by in the first half. Five minutes into the half, the score was deadlocked at 5-5, until the Spartans rattled off a 10-0 run over the next five minutes to make the score 15-5.
Davis Roquet hit his second three-pointer of the half to make the score to 20-11 with 5:35 left, but the Knights were unable to keep any rhythm offensively. A Sam Kilburg three ball gave the Spartans a 14-point lead heading into the half.
In the second half, the Knights defense strung together stops and with just over 13 minutes to play
Marshun Williams made a layup to cut the lead back down to 14, but UD continued to hold off any comeback attempt.
The University of Dubuque outscored the Knights 16-9 over the next 10 minutes to keep command of its lead. The largest lead of the night came with 5:46 to play when the Spartans led 53-31 with just under six minutes left. The Orange & Black kept fighting all the way throughout and finished the game on an 11-6 run to make the final score 59-42.
Season Leaders
Drew Olson enters the contest leading the Knights in scoring, rebounds, and steals. The senior guard is averaging 15.3 points per game from 51.1% shooting from the field and 38.8% from the three-point range. Olson adds a team-high 5.8 rebounds per game and averages 4.7 assists, which is third in the A-R-C. The Osage, Iowa native has recorded 68 steals so far this season and his average of 3.5 steals per game is fourth among all eligible Division III players.
Jack Molstead leads the Knights offense with 5.2 assists per game, which ranks second among the conference. The Charles City, Iowa native is scoring 11.3 points per game and is shooting 41.2% from the field and 39.5% from three. The junior guard is also averaging 4.3 boards a game, which is third most on the team.
Codey Hicks has started all 18 games for the Knights this season and leads the offense in field goal shooting with a mark of 74.6%, which leads all eligible Division III players. The junior forward is averaging 11.6 points per game as well as 5.1 rebounds per game for the Orange & Black.
Simpson
The Storm enter the contest on an 11-game losing streak, with their last win coming against Coe College on Dec. 4. These teams met on Saturday, Dec. 11 in Indianola, Iowa where Wartburg defeated Simpson 77-59.
Simpson ranks seventh in both scoring offense and defense in the conference with averages of 66.5 points scored per game and 73.7 points given up per game. Wartburg averages 78.3 points score per game and 71.5 points given up, which ranks third and fourth respectively in the A-R-C.
The Storm have the lowest rebounding margin in the conference, as they are being outrebounded by an average of 5.2 boards per contest. Wartburg ranks fourth in rebounding margin with a positive margin of 3.2.
Andrew Curran has led the Storm offense this season with 11.6 points per game and 3.2 assists per game. The junior guard is shooting 32.1% from the field and 25.6% from beyond the arc this season, while adding 3.1 rebounds per game.
Tajen Ross has only played in the last three games for Simpson, but he has been very impactful with an average of 21.3 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game over the three-game stretch. The junior guard came off the bench and scored 22 and 24 against Coe College and Nebraska Wesleyan University. Ross scored 18 points and added seven rebounds against Loras in his first start of the season.
Series History
The first matchup between these schools came in 1950, where the Knights defeated the Storm 62-55, and now Wartburg holds a 93-41 all-time series lead over Simpson. The series has been even over the last six matchups with both teams having won three matchups in a row.
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