Team Faces 19 Road Games

By Tony Gray/Fremont Tribune

The Midland Lutheran College men’s basketball team will learn what it means to be a Warrior this season.

The team faces a 30-game schedule, which starts Friday and Saturday at Valley City State and Jamestown College in North Dakota.

Alone, 30 games are right on par with just about every other college in the country. However, only 11 of Midland’s games are at home; 18 are against teams from arguably one of the toughest conferences in the nation, the Great Plains Athletic Conference; one is on the road against NCAA Division I University of South Dakota; and one is on the road against NCAA Division II national power Northern State who by the way is coached by Wayne native Don Meyer who ranks second on the NCAA all-time wins list with 891 victories.

Oh, and Midland will have to face that schedule without its top two scorers from a season ago.

Leading scorer Luke Simons graduated after averaging 12.6 points per game during last year’s 8-22 campaign.

Simons scored 1,347 career points for the Warriors but Midland head coach Rich McGill said the team has no other choice but find a new go-to player.

“Yes you can replace a guy like Luke because you have to,” said the 29-year head coach. “It’s a team game and so each year the team takes on its own personality; it’s someone else’s turn, you might say.”

Also gone is Evan Lamprecht who had two years of eligibility remaining at Midland. However, the 6-foot-8 center was accepted to the architectural program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and will not return.

“He was guaranteed a spot and I know it was a tough decision for him but that’s what he chose and we support him,” McGill said.

The departure of Simons and Lamprecht doesn’t mean the cupboard is bare, however.

Senior Jason Ahrens showed he is a capable scorer late last season leading the team in scoring in each of the final five games – four of those games with over 20 points.

“Jason’s a good player and we’re hoping that he’ll have a good year but by no means do we expect him to carry the load by himself because if that’s the case it’s going to be a long year,” McGill said.

Also back is sophomore Zach Rosenboom who saw the court more as the season progressed gaining valuable experience and eventually earning 13 starts.

Rosenboom, a former star at Oakland-Craig High School, was fourth on the team in scoring last season averaging 7.5 ppg.

“What you hope is that the guys who improved last year will continue to improve this year and take a few more steps toward being better,” McGill said. “We certainly expect that out of Zach and all the guys; they’ve worked hard in the summer and fall and we hope that work pays off for them, they deserve it.”

Along with Ahrens at point guard and Rosenboom on the blocks, senior forward Chad Langemeier, junior center Brandon Mach and junior guard Justin Kulwicki round out the starting five.

McGill said the trio of junior guard Marc Klima, senior guard Eric Pieper and sophomore forward Alex Knobbe will be the first three off the bench.

“Those are the players that have stepped forward for us in practice so far,” McGill said.

The loss of Lambrecht left the Warriors a bit undersized but McGill said they make up for it with more quickness than he said he’s had in a number of years.

McGill also said he likes the way the team can interchange.

“One of our strengths is even though we’re not real big we’ve got some guys with a little versatility,” McGill said. “That expands our depth so we don’t have to just substitute at one position; we can maneuver those eight around quite a bit.”

Midland will try to maneuver the best it can in the GPAC.

Dakota Wesleyan University was voted the No. 4 team in the NAIA preseason coaches poll. Briar Cliff is ranked 13th in the same poll and the University of Sioux Falls is tied for 23rd.

“It will be the typical GPAC; very strong.” McGill said. “In addition to the ranked teams, Dordt has a lot of kids returning and I really thing that Hastings is going to be real good.”

The first home game for the Warriors is Nov. 12 when they host the Draemel Classic.

“We’re going to be living on a bus this season,” McGill said. “There will be good times hopefully and some bad; There will be plenty of time to bond.”

Published in the Fremont Tribune on Oct. 28, 2009:
http://www.fremonttribune.com/articles/2009/10/28/sports/college/doc4ae862bfc0897325665524.txt