University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Wartburg (Exhib.)
UNI Opens Exhibition Season With 67-46 Triumph Over Wartburg
11/2/2010 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The University of Northern Iowa men's basketball team opened its exhibition season with a 67-46 victory over Wartburg College on Tuesday in the McLeod Center.
The Panthers took to the same floor that they played their last game on in March against Michigan State and was able to pull away for the 21-point win in front of 3,660 fans.
Wartburg head coach Dick Peth praised the Panther coaching staff for scheduling the exhibition game.
"I want to thank coach (Ben) Jacobson and the coaching staff at UNI for allowing the Cedar Valley the opportunity to see Wartburg and UNI play," Peth said. "If there is one team you want to emulate this year it's UNI after seeing what they did last year in reaching the Sweet 16."
Senior point guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe led the Panthers with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-7 from 3-point land. Sophomore guard Anthony James also joined Ahelegbe in double figures with 10 points, which included a pair of long-range triples. Sophomore forward Jake Koch latched on to a game-high seven rebounds.
The Knights started strong and posted a 17-13 lead with 7:47 left in the first half. But the Panthers responded back-to-back-to-back three-pointers from Ahelegbe (twice) and James to give UNI the lead at 22-17. Wartburg's Jordan Sathoff scored the next points to even the score at 22-22. Sathoff led the Knights with 13 points.
UNI scored the next seven points to open up a 29-22 lead with 2:37 left in the half and it was capped by a conventional three-point play from Johnny Moran.
The Knights trimmed the Panther lead to three at 33-30 with 18:32 remaining in the game but would get no closer as the Panthers were able to pull away for the victory.
UNI head coach Ben Jacobson said there are a some areas where he saw improvement tonight but also some areas that need more work.
"I thought we defended well but I didn't feel like we blocked out at a high enough level," Jacobson said. "There were periods in the game that our communication was good and there were periods of time where it was not nearly where it needs to be."
The Panthers face its final exhibition test of the season Saturday at home against the University of Mary (N.D.) at noon in the McLeod Center.
