MLC is team

in transition

this season

By BOB VARMETTE

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- It's a hard fact to escape. The Martin Luther Knights won the UMAC postseason tournament last season and qualified for the NAIA national tournament.

The Knights bowed out in the first round to top-seeded Mid-American Nazarene 93-82, but there's no denying MLC had a great run in the latter part of the 1999-2000 season.

"That was exciting," MLC coach James Unke said. "That's the way we could've played all year. The end of the season we got the frustrations out. It was a nice reward for the seniors."

Now, the national tournament appearance is the first thing that anyone remembers about the Knights, who finished last season at 13-13, going 5-5 for fourth place in the UMAC during the regular season. And now, the Knights are challenged by having no starters returning; in fact, six of their top eight players from last season are gone.

And no seniors. When the Knights open the season at 7 p.m. today at home against Marian (Wis.), they will have six freshmen and three sophomores on the 13-man roster.

"We have a lot of young guys," said 6-foot-4 junior guard Ben Kuerth. "But I really do think we have a lot of talent. It's going to be a maturing process as a team. ... This team has good chemistry and it has the potential to be special."

The Knights did expect to have one of their starters -- Jeff Loberger -- back. But Loberger will be out for the season with a torn patellar tendon.

Loberger was last season's UMAC scoring champion. It won't be easy to replace his 20 points per game.

"We don't just lose Jeff's scoring, we lose his leadership," sophomore guard Jake Briney said. "He would've been a team leader. And he's a nice guy, so that does hurt us pretty tough."

It will be a rebuilding year for the Knights. But the Knights will be rebuilding at the right time.

MLC won't be the only UMAC program with quite a few new faces. Three schools will have new coaches -- St. Scholastica, Mount Senario and Northwestern (Roseville) -- and both CSS and MSC had several players move on with their coaches.

Only Northwestern will have most of its team back, making them the early-season conference favorite. Unke said except for the Eagles, the UMAC teams are in similar circumstances -- young and without much returning experience.

The cupboard won't be totally bare for the Knights. Unke, who is in his fourth season, will have seven returning lettermen.

But without Loberger's scoring, the Knights will have to find ways to find points fast. MLC's top returning scorer is 6-foot-4 sophomore forward Kurt Nielsen, who averaged 2.1 points per game.

Three juniors who are slated to start tonight -- Kuerth, 6-foot-2 forward Tim Breitkreutz and 6-foot-6 post Ben Zahn combined to average only 2.8 points per game last season. All three figure to be important players for the Knights.

"Losing five starters really creates opportunities for other guys," Unke said. "I think we've got some guys who are ready to step up and play.

"Ben Kuerth, he was a quarterback in football, he brings a lot of leadership to the court. The kid busts his tail all the time. He really sets the pace in practice. ... Tim is kind of a strong forward, he's a wide-body, strong kid, long arms. He can hold his own in the lane against anybody I think."

That leaves two spots, and at least one will be filled by a freshman. Unke will start 6-foot-8 Tom Engelbrecht at the No. 3 position.

The one position still up in the air is point guard. Briney is under consideration as is freshman -- and Minnesota Valley Lutheran-ex -- Jay Wendland.

Wendland is better on defense, Briney on offense. Both will see a lot of time, much of it situational.

"It doesn't matter to me," Wendland said. "I want to contribute to the team and I'll do what it takes."

He'll need to. Possibly the biggest challenge the Knights face is where to find those points to win.

Unke thinks his posts are solid; he's not really worried about the inside. The big concern is the perimeter. The goal will be to establish the inside, which will open up the outside.

"I think our scoring can be very balanced," Briney said. "Tommy can put up some big numbers. I know I can score, Jay can score. Our goal is to feed Tommy and Zahn the ball down low. If we can do that, we're going to get a lot of kickouts."

The nine games the Knights play before Christmas will be a time of transition, but also a time of learning. And the Knights know the learning curve may be slow and, at times, frustrating.

"We're a team that needs to find itself," Kuerth said. "We really don't have a lot of experience so we need to find out how we can work our talent into the schemes.

"I think there is some pressure to go back (to the national tournament). That's our goal, we want to get back to it."