Men's Basketball Struggles to Slow Knights
Jan 4, 2020
WAVERLY, Iowa – The University of Dubuque men’s basketball team finished off a busy week with a 95-79 loss at the hands of the Wartburg Knights in Waverly, Iowa.
Wartburg jumped out to a quick 15-5 lead in the game’s opening five minutes but a quick burst over the next 2:40 got the Spartans back within five at 19-14. The game of runs would continue with Wartburg building a 10-point lead again and the Spartans then quickly pulled back within four points at 26-22 with eight minutes to play in the first half. The UD offense would go cold, not scoring over the next four and a half minutes and Wartburg pushed their lead to 15 and the Spartans would go into halftime down 48-31.
The Knights scored the first six points of the second half and the Spartans were never able to make a run in the second half and would go on to fall 95-79. UD would hit 11 three pointers on Saturday afternoon, nearly one third of their made baskets as they were 30-72 (41,7%) from the field. However, the Knights connected on 12 three’s and made 34-60 (56.7%) of their shots.
A positive note from the loss was the Spartans effort on the offensive glass, doubling up the Knights in offensive rebounds by a 16-6 margin. The UD benched was very productive, scoring 55 of the team’s 79 points.
Keegan Zimmerman led the Spartans with a career-high 19 points on 7-10 shooting. He would also haul in a team-high six rebounds and make 4-5 free throws. Trent Fitzpatrick was not far behind Zimmerman, finishing with 18 points after drilling 4-6 from beyond the arc.
Peter Ragen and Patrick Mayfield would join Zimmerman and Fitzpatrick in double figures in the scoring column with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
The Spartans host the Coe Kohawks on Wednesday, Jan 8th to begin a three game home set. The Spartans and Kohawks will tip at 7:30 p.m. in the Stotlz Sports Center.
