WAVERLY, Iowa – Wartburg men's basketball enter the 2022 American Rivers Conference Tournament as the fourth seed and are set to host Loras on Tuesday, Feb. 22 in the first round.
Tuesday, Feb. 22 – 7:00 p.m.
– Waverly, Iowa.
– Levick Arena
Wartburg Knights (16-9, 9-7 A-R-C) vs Loras College Duhawks
(17-8, 9-7 A-R-C)
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Last Time Out
This will be a familiar matchup for both teams as they closed the regular season against each other just two days ag on Saturday, Feb. 19. Both regular season matchups came down to one possession victories with each team picking up a win on the road.
Marshun Williams provided great minutes in the first half, as he scored seven points and recorded a block to bring the Knights back within three points early into the first half. A
Cade Daugherty three-ball tied the game at 21 apiece with just under nine to play in the first half. After the game was tied Loras went on an 18-4 run highlighted by great three-point shooting. Wartburg was able to claw back a little before halftime, but Loras took a 48-31 lead into the break.
The Knights came out of the locker room with energy and started to cut into the Duhawk lead when a
Codey Hicks layup brought the score to 50-40 with 16:56 to go. Two more baskets from Hicks brought the Orange & Black within six, but the Duhawks answered and went back up 10 with just over 14 minutes left in the game.
The Duhakws were able to hold on to a double-digit lead over the next few minutes, but two more three-pointers from Daugherty made the score 65-61. A technical foul free throw and a
Davis Roquet jumper made it a one-point game with 6:54 to play. Roquet went on to score 10 of the Knights' next 12 points and his fourth made three of the contest tied the game at 76 with just under three minutes left.
Both team's traded layups to make it 78-78, but Loras got a stop and pulled ahead with back-to-back layups. The Knights brought it within two points with 40 seconds to play, but Ali Sabet closed the game with another layup to give the Duhawks the win.
Season Leaders
Drew Olson closed the regular season leading the Orange & Black in scoring with 15.4 points per game with a 47.4% field goal percentage 37.8% mark from three. The guard finished second in the A-R-C in assists with an average of five per game. The Osage, Iowa native also currently leads the conference in steals with 3.2 per game and leads the Knights in rebounding with 5.4 per game.
Hicks still currently leads all of Division III with a field goal percentage of 74.3%. The junior has started all 25 games for Wartburg and averages 11.3 points per game. Hicks is second on the team in rebounding with 5.2 per game and is tied with
Trent Allard with a team-high 16 blocks this season.
Loras
The Duhawks closed the regular season with the top scoring offense in the conference with an average of 85.3 points per game. Loras ranks in the top-three in both field goal percentage and three-point percentage in the A-R-C.
Rowan McGowen and Sabet lead the high-powered offensive attack with 15 and 13.7 points per game. Sabet ranks fourth in the conference in three-point shooting percentage with a mark of 40.3% and helps lead the offense with just under three assists per game. The Duhawks currently have six other players averaging at least seven points per game.
Series History
After splitting the regular season matchups, the all-time series moved to 56-41 with Wartburg still leading. The Knights have won four of their last five home games against the Duhawks dating back to the 2017-18 season. The last A-R-C tournament matchup came in 2020 where Wartburg defeated Loras 79-74 in Waverly to advance to the semifinals.
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