AL STRAIN STAFF WRITER
It took lights-out shooting and strong defense for the Knights to take down conference leader Buena Vista on Jan. 19.
They found their shooting and played strong defense in the second half to cruise to an 80-66 victory.
The Knights started with a 17-5 run behind the three-point shooting of Mitch Eslick and Cole Danielson. Eslick knew the Knights needed to start quickly.
“We came out really ready to play, we knew we were playing the No. 6 team in the country, who was 6-0 in the league.
“We knew we needed to come out with unbelievable intensity,” Eslick said.
The Beavers showed no sign of quitting and kept the game close in the first half. Going into the locker room the score was 39-34 in the Knights favor.
Wartburg came out in the second half determined to make it a defensive game.
“One of the big adjustments we made was going to man-to-man defense, that was a big call. We knew we could score if we wanted to, it was all about what we were going to do defensively.” Eslick said.
With the new defense, the Knights held the Beavers to 32 points in the second half while scoring 41 of their own.
Danielson and Eslick led the Knights with 25 and 21 points respectively. Eslick also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out four assists.
The Beavers were led by Kyle Stribe who had 19 points.
The loss dropped Buena Vista to 7-1 in Iowa Conference play and moved the Knights to 5-2.
The next task for the Knights was taking on the Rams of Cornell College.
The game was back and forth through the first half with the Knights trailing 32-26 at the break.
The Rams came out hot to start the second half, going on an 11-0 run to open the game to a 43-26
lead.
The Knights clawed their way back into the game throughout the second half, but were never able to take the lead.
The game went to the Rams with a final score of 71-64.
Danielson led the Knights in scoring with 13 points. Kelly McCarville added 12 points and four rebounds in the Knights victory.
The Knights had no answer for the Rams’ Griffin LaDew, who had 21 points on 7-10 shooting including 3-5 from beyond the arc.
The Knights looked to right the ship against Faith Baptist Bible College on Jan. 24 in Levick Arena.
The Eagles were no match for the Knights, as the Knights cruised to a 56-21 first half lead, and finished with a 105-46 final score.
“We come to work on Monday like we do everyday,” head coach Dick Peth said about the team’s upcoming game against Loras.
“We will just come to work and prepare for Loras over the next two days and see how it goes when we get over to Dubuque on Wednesday,” he said
The Knights had four players in double figures, led by Jordan Sathoff who had 18 points along with eight rebounds.
The Knights are currently 5-3 in Iowa Conference play and will take on Loras College, who is 7-2 in IIAC play, in Dubuque on Wednesday at 8 p.m.
After their trip to Dubuque, the Knights will host the University of Dubuque, who is 4-5 in conference play, on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. in Levick Arena.
Photo by Luke Shanno