WAVERLY, Iowa – Wartburg men's basketball is set to close the regular season this week with second matchups against Coe and Loras College.
Wednesday, Feb. 16 – 7:30 p.m.
– Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Eby Fieldhouse
Wartburg Knights (16-7, 9-5 A-R-C) at Coe College Kohawks (17-6, 9-5 A-R-C)
Watch Live | Live Stats
Saturday, Feb. 19 – 4:00 p.m.
– Waverly, Iowa.
– Levick Arena
Wartburg Knights (16-7, 9-5 A-R-C) vs Loras College Duhawks
(16-7, 8-6 A-R-C)
Watch Live | Live Stats
Conference Tournament
The Knights clinched birth in the American Rivers Conference Tournament, which is their 20
th overall and twelfth-consecutive tournament appearance. The University of Dubuque has clinched the top seed, but seeds two through six will be decided by this week's games. The other teams to qualify are Coe, Loras, Buena Vista and Nebraska Wesleyan. The first round begins Tuesday, Feb. 22.
Last Time Out
The Orange & Black were defeated in their last contest 94-92 by Buena Vista on Saturday, Feb. 12 in Storm Lake, Iowa.
The Knights answered an early run from BVU with back-to-back threes from
Marshun Williams and
Keagan John to give them a 21-11 lead. Another Williams three would give Wartburg a 13-point lead, which was its largest lead of the half, with 10:17 to play.
BVU was able to chip away at the lead with its three-point shooting and with seven minutes left to play the lead was cut to three points. The Beavers took their first lead with 2:11 left in the half and would hold on to take a 47-44 lead into the break.
The Knights fought back to start the second half and tied the game at 50 apiece with 15:54 left in the half. John and Demers traded threes and neither team was able to pull away from each other, but with 9:01 to play Wartburg took a 70-68 lead after a
Jack Molstead three-pointer.
Molstead was good again from three with 5:58 to play to put the Orange & Black in front 80-74. The Beavers would retake the lead after an 8-0 run put them in front 82-80 with 3:31 to play, but
Codey Hicks answered on the other end with a dunk to tie the game back up. It looked like BVU would pull away after extending the lead to six with under a minute to play, but
Drew Olson hit a three-pointer to bring the Knights within a possession. Williams scored a layup to bring it to 89-88, but the Beavers made free throws when it counted and held on in a free throw battle to win 94-92.
Wartburg outshot the Beavers from both the field and from three, but it was not enough to overcome Buena Vista's scoring. The Orange & Black shot 56.3% from the field and 52.6% from three compared to BVU's 48.4% from the field and 36.1% from three. The Knights have now lost six straight matchups with BVU.
Season Leaders
Drew Olson leads the Knights in scoring, rebounding and in assists per game so far this season. The Osage, Iowa native is averaging 15.5 points per game shooting 48.6% from the field and 36.9% from beyond the arc. Olson is second in the A-R-C in assists per game with a mark of five assists per game. The senior guard is averaging 5.6 rebounds per game along with an A-R-C leading 3.3 steals per game.
Codey Hicks has started all 23 games for Wartburg this season and enters the week with the best field goal percentage among all Division III athletes with a mark of 75.2%. The junior center is averaging 11.3 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game for the Knights.
Williams is scoring 9.7 points per game in just an average of 16 minutes per game. The sophomore forward is shooting 56% from the field and 31% from three. Williams also adds 4.3 rebounds per game and has recorded 10 blocks this season.
Coe College
The Kohawks enter Wednesday's contest with an overall record of 17-6 and a 9-5 record in A-R-C play, which is third in conference standings. The first matchup came on Wednesday, Jan. 12 in Waverly and the Knights won 76-72.
Coe is allowing 67.3 points per game as a team, which ranks second among the A-R-C. Wartburg comes in at fourth in points allowed with an average of 72.2 points per game. The Kohawks rank first in both team three-point shooting percentage and opponent three-point percentage with marks of 37.3% and 29.4% respectively. Like Coe, Wartburg ranks first in both field goal percentage and opponent field goal percentage. The Knights are shooting 49% as a team and have allowed opponents to shoot 40.9% from the field.
The Kohawks are led by Jared Kruse, who leads the A-R-C in scoring with an average of 17.9 points per game. Kruse is shooting 52.9% from the field and 41.1% from beyond the arc. The senior forward is also leading the team in rebounding with 6.7 rebounds per game, which ranks second in the conference.
Loras
Loras comes into Saturday's matchup with a 16-7 overall record and an 8-6 ledger in conference play. The Duhakws will play Dubuque on Wednesday before they close the season against the Knights on Saturday. In the first contest, Wartburg defeated Loras on the road 86-83 on Wednesday, Jan. 19.
Loras comes into the week averaging an A-R-C leading 85 points per game, which is 6.4 points higher then the second highest team Wartburg. The Duhawks rank second among the A-R-C in both field goal percentage and three-point percentage, while leading the conference in free throw percentage (77.9%).
The Duhakws are led offensively by Rowan McGowen and Ali Sabet, who average 15.6 and 14 points per game respectively. McGowen is shooting 42.4% from the field and 36.8% from downtown, while Sabet is shooting a field goal percentage of 43.2% and a three-points percentage of 40%.
Series History
Wednesday will mark the 75
th matchup between Coe and Wartburg dating back to the 1954-55 season. The Knights lead the series 44-30 overall, but Coe has won four of the last five matchups.
Saturday's matchup between Loras and Wartburg will be the 96
th matchup between these schools. The first matchup came during the 1949-50 season and the Knights won the first matchup this year. Wartburg has won four of the last five games against Loras.
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