Men's
BasketballMen's
Basketball
As the Knights prepare for its UMAC opponent, they will again have to become familiar with some familiar places. This is the Knight’s first home game in over a month and the Knights will be looking for its first conference win of the season.
Northland (3-9 overall, 0-2 in UMAC) led by Senior forward Ryan Tiberg who is averaging 14ppg and shooting 42% from behind-the-arc, comes into this game on a five-game losing streak, including conference losses to Presentation and UM-Morris last weekend.
The Knights (1-8, 0-2) split last year’s match-ups, including a 62-53 victory in the team’s second meeting. The now graduated Tom Engelbrecht broke a 49-49 tie with five minutes remaining driving to the basket and scoring on a lay-up to give the Knights its final lead of the game. Engelbrecht led the Knights with 15pts on 7-of-11 shooting.
For the Knights to win this game, they will need to play aggressive and play with confidence. After a tough opening week in UMAC play that included playing Northwestern, last year’s defending UMAC regular season champions, the Knights are searching for a momentum builder. MLC men’s head basketball coach Jim Unke realizes that even though Northland may not be seeded as high in conference play as the teams the Knights have played last week, they can still be a force to be reckoned with.
“Northland has a new men’s head basketball coach and they will be turning some heads real soon,” said Unke. “They are struggling a little bit right now, but they play hard night in and night out. They are not a team that should be taken lightly and hopefully our guys will come out ready to play.”