MLC edges past Viterbo

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Tom Engelbrecht is only a freshman, playing in his sixth game for the Martin Luther Knights.

But as far as the Viterbo SeaHawks are concerned, he played like a senior post player.

The 6-foot-8 Engelbrecht from Yorkville, Ill., poured in 19 points, blocked three shots and hauled down a game-high 14 rebounds to lead the Knights to a 63-61 win over the SeaHawks Wednesday night. Sophomore Kurt Nielsen added 15 points and 10 boards for MLC.

Mike Brudos led Viterbo (4-5) with 16 points.

The win improves MLC to 4-2 on the season.

"We have had a lot of close games so far this season," said Knight coach Jim Unke. "The nice thing about these games is as this young team matures (no seniors on the roster) these close games will really be good for us."

The Knights, who held a slim 34-33 halftime lead, outscored the Hawks 8-2 out of the intermission behind the play of Engelbrecht. His rebound basket and two points in the paint were sandwiched between a Ben Kuerth hoop for a 42-33 lead with five minutes elapsed in the second half.

Viterbo managed to stay within striking distance, slicing the lead to 51-50 on two free throws by Brudos with seven minutes left in the game. The Hawks then took their first lead of the game since holding a 9-3 advantage early on a Brudos' trey before MLC's Jake Briney knotted the game on a baseline drive to the basket.

The game was tied at 56 before Engelbrecht sank two free throws for a two-point lead. His basket and ensuing free throw tied the game at 61-all before Nielsen and Tim Breitkreutz each sank a free throw in the last minute.

"Tom (Engelbrecht) is going to be a guy that we are going to be going to a lot," commented Unke. "It adds a whole new dimension to our game. In the past, we have never had a big guy and Tom is doing a great job for us."

The Knights trailed by that 9-3 score before running off a 13-2 spurt to take a 16-11 lead. Kuerth canned two treys and Briney hit the first of his three first-half threeballs for the lead.

It was Briney (two) and Kuerth (one) who sank 3-point shots with five minutes left in the first half for a 25-22 lead. Tied at 28-28, the Knights' Nielsen sank four free throws in a span of 28 seconds for a 32-28 MLC lead with less than a minute remaining in the first half.

But it was the last long-range scoring from the pair as the Knights changed their offense.

"We went to our 'four' offense,'" Unke said, "which is four out and one in. That spread the court a little bit more and gave Tom a little bit more room to work. We traded off I think that we probably had more points in the paint in the second half."

The change in the offense plus the ability to make free throws (16 of 24, 66 percent) aided in the win.

"This team has been shooting well from the free throw line and we did not shoot well in the first half but we shot better in the second half," Unke said.

"We are 4-2 right now and I don't think that there was a whole lot of people who would have given us a shot to be at that with a brand-new team. But that is a credit to how hard these players have worked."

VITERBO (61): Brudos 19, Glass 16, Girouz 8, Sullivan 5, Fulcer 4, Glover 3, Kumlien 3, Haberkorn 3.

MLC (63): Engelbrecht 19, Nielsen 15, Kuerth 12, Briney 11, Breitkreutz 5, Schwartz 1.