Rocori Preview: Spartans vs. Otters

Tonight at 7:30, the Spartans travel to Fergus Falls to take on the Otters in a Central Lakes Conference clash. The Spartans lost to Fergus Falls last week 80-76 in overtime. Jonah Eisenschenk led all scorers with 26 points. Zach Schneider, Mac Mueller and Zach Templin all scored in double figures for the Spartans.

Tune in at 7:20 for the pregame show, and 7:30 for the opening tip-off. Highlights from the pregame show include:

Rocori Recap- I will take a look at the Spartans last game, a thrilling win against St. Cloud Cathedral

Fergus Focus- I will take a look at the Otters regular season schedule to see how Fergus Falls has done so far this season

Keys to the Game- 4 aspects of the game that the Spartans need to excell at in order to win the game. They are the following:

1. Improvement on the perimeter defense. The Spartans allowed 11 3-pointers in the last meeting against the Otters, which is way too many.
2. Exploit size advantage. Unlike the Crusaders who were able to take advantage of 7 foot center Connor Voss, the Otters do not have anyone taller than 6 foot 3. Nick Thorpe and Jonah Eisenschenk are both taler than that mark and need to take advantage of their size advantage when they are in the game.
3. Keep eyes on Austin Rund. Rund was lethal from long range last week against the Spartans, hitting 7 3's and scoring 25 points in the win. The Spartans need to do a better job of matching up against him to limit the wide open looks from outside. 
4. Set the tempo in the 1st and 2nd half. The Spartans have done a good job in their wins of getting out to fast starts in the first and second half of games and if they are going to win tonight they need to establish a big lead from the onset.

Player to watch- tonight's player to watch is Zach Templin. Zach has scored in double figures in 4 of the last 6 games, including 15 points in the overtime loss to the Otters last week. If the Spartans are going to win in hostile territory, they will need strong games from Jonah Eisenschenk, Mac Mueller, and Zach Templin

Tune into the pregame show for this content as well as the starting lineups. 7:30 for the tip-off. Also check back at halftime for halftime stats for both teams as well as my thoughts on the first half of tonight's game. And most of all go Spartans!