Second-half surge but Central suffers men’s basketball tourney loss
STORM LAKE—Five days after absorbing a 97-67 home-court defeat by Buena Vista University, the Central College men’s basketball team had to travel to Storm Lake for an American Rivers tourney semifinal rematch Thursday.
The result was ultimately the same, but the performance was a season-ending effort to remember.
Trailing by 19 points midway through the second half, the Dutch, who were coming off a surprising first-round 97-95 overtime triumph at Loras College Tuesday, found enough gas in the tank for a closing kick, surging to within five points with 2 minutes remaining before dropping an 81-76 decision. That sends Buena Vista into Saturday’s championship game at the University of Dubuque.
Meanwhile Central, which endured two health-related shutdowns and the loss of two starters to injury, closed at 3-4 but with a top-four league finish in a bizarre yet subtly rewarding year.
“We showed so much resilience,” said coach Craig Douma, who has led the Dutch on some other thrilling tournament runs, winning his previous four league semifinal games. “With two quarantines, losing two starters, the lack of practice time. We had a lot of stuff happen and we were still competing to go to the championship game.
“I told the players at the end of the game that they can look in the mirror and be proud. They gave it their best shot.”
Guard Adam Flinn (senior, St. Louis, Mo., Lafayette HS) put the wraps on a brilliant career with a dominant night, scoring 25 points with five rebounds and three assists. That give him 1,032 points for his career, good for 25th place on Central’s all-time list.
Central got 18 points and five boards from sophomore Sam Beatty (Mount Pleasant).
“Sam stepped up and shot the ball like he’s capable of tonight,” Douma said. “This team has a lot to build off of.”
Another senior, forward Caden Mauck (Kansas City, Mo., Blue Springs South HS) narrowly missed notching his 15th career double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds.
Emblematic of Central’s effort, however, were the rebounding numbers. Buena Vista held a 12-rebound advantage Saturday, but the Dutch had a 38-30 edge on the glass Thursday.
“We rebounded the ball so much better,” Douma said. “And our second-half defense was better.”
But Central was outshot from the field, 49.2% to 47.5%, and committed a costly 19 turnovers.
“That’s 19 fewer possessions when you can score,” Douma said. “We just weren’t strong with the ball in a few situations. We also didn’t shoot the ball well from (3-point range).”
Flinn and Mauck are the team’s only seniors but are key cogs in the program.
“We’re really going to miss our two seniors,” Douma said. “They’re both four-year starters and they both had great careers. I’m super proud of them.”
Yet Douma is excited about the program’s future—and eager for a more normal off-season to grow and develop.
“We’ve got to keep recruiting but we’ve got some great young players and one thing about the injuries we had is it allowed some freshman and sophomore kids to get some playing time,” Douma said.
“I like the way we finished the year. We’ve got a lot to build on.”
