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March 9, 2000
MLC to face No. 1 Mid-American NazareneNEW ULM -- The Martin Luther Knights arrived in Branson, Mo., following a 12-hour bus ride from Milwaukee as they prepare for the NAIA National Basketball Tournament, which began yesterday. The Knights, 13-12, are seeded 32nd of the 32 teams and will attempt to be giant killers as they meet the No. 1 team in the country in NAIA, top-seeded Mid-America Nazarene, which enters the tournament with a 32-3 record. MLC will meet Nazarene at 8 p.m tonight. "We practiced (Wednesday) for about two hours and went hard," said Knights coach Jim Unke. "They have the 32 teams practicing at one of the eight high schools in the area. Plus, we got game film from Nazarene and they look very good and have to be to be ranked No. 1 in the country in NAIA. I was looking over the media guide for the tournament and they have four starters who are 6-foot-8. "Their best player is 6-foot-8 Dan Petersen who is averaging 21 points a game and leads in rebounds per game with 11. So we will stick Aaron Bauer on him; Aaron always gets the opponents best offensive player. He is only 6-foot-1 but does a great job defensively." The Knights began their tournament experience with a banquet at the Dixieland Stampede in Branson on Tuesday night. "It was an introduction of the 32 teams," "A couple of our guys are baseball players so they had some fun. They invited our team over (on Wednesday) and let the players do anything they wanted for free. The owner had some nice shirts made for the team and they really are going out of their way to welcome all of the teams." Yesterday following practice, Unke and his team went to the fieldhouse in Branson at the College of the Ozarks to watch a game between Grandview College of Iowa and Berea College of Kentucky. "The winner of our game will play the winner of that game on Friday." Unke said the Knights met their opponents from Mid-American Nazarene and said "they are feeling the pressure of being the No. 1 seed and we are not feeling any pressure. We are pretty loose and they guys are really enjoying the experience." And that experience can be enjoyed by Knights' fans as the game with Mid-America Nazarene will be on the internet. "The game will be simulcast on the Internet; it will be live on the internet," said Unke. The internet address for the broadcast is www.naia.com. Click on "Total Sports." "We are going to enjoy ourselves and try to bring our best game to the floor tonight," said Unke. SWIM CLUB MEMBERS QUALIFY FOR STATE: Three New Ulm Swim Club members have qualified for the State A/B Finals in Alexandria and two of them will continue on to participate in the state championships March 17-19 at the Aquatic Center at the University of Minnesota. Ellen Hilbedrand placed first in the 50m backstroke and 100m freestyle and third in the 50m freestyle in Alexandria recently. Both Amanda Tauer (6th in 100m and 200m backstroke, 12th in 100m backstroke, 14th in 200m freestyle, 17th in 200m individual medley and 100th in individual medley) and Jake Berg (1st in 100m and 400m individual medley, 200m butterfly and freestyle, second in 100m breaststroke and butterfly, 3rd in 200m backstroke, 4th in 100m backstroke and 6th in 200m individual Medley) have qualified for the state tournament. TWO REGIONAL CHAMPIONS: Eleven-year-old Ben Ziesemer and 12-year-old Tom Stadick, both of New Ulm, were named regional champions of the 2000 Knights of Columbus Free Throw Championships Feb. 26 in Hutchinson. Ziesemer hit 21 of 25 free throws while Stadick hit 18 of 25. They have earned trips to Willmar for a tournament Sunday.
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