Career-high 25 for Brand in Central men’s basketball win
PELLA—Relying on its inside game once again, the Central College men’s basketball team got center Joshua Van Gorp’s (senior, Pella) second double-double of the season, an eight-block frenzy from forward Grant Johnson (5th-year, Waukee, Van Meter HS) and a career-high 25 points from guard Kaleb Brand (senior, Mount Vernon) to outlast Waldorf College 75-65 Saturday.
Waldorf (2-4) used a physical playing style and torrid 3-point shooting to take a 43-42 halftime lead but Central turned up the defensive intensity in the second half. Central hit its first eight shots of the game but Waldorf connected on 10 of 15 (66.7%) first-half 3-point shot attempts. The Dutch limited them to 2-of-11 after the break.
“They hit some tough shots,” coach Joe Steinkamp said. “We made a couple of ball screen mistakes and they made us pay for it. So we talked at halftime about getting over the top of those ball screens and making them make tougher decisions off their penetration. I thought we did a lot better job (in the second half), holding them to 22 points after the 43-point first half.”
Central (4-0) used a 44-14 advantage on points in the paint to overcome a 5-of-20 effort from beyond the 3-point line. The Dutch got 18 second-half points from Brand, including several buckets on drives to the hoop. He was 2 of 11 from 3-point range but 5 of 10 from close range and hit nine free throws, drawing nine fouls.
“Kaleb just continues to find more ways to score,” Steinkamp said. “He’s always really good in transition. They pressured us a little bit and I thought he did a really good job of attacking the rim and getting to the foul line a lot.”
Van Gorp had 22 points and 14 rebounds for his sixth career double-double.
“There’s just no way one person could guard him, so he keeps doing his thing,” Steinkamp said.
Central held a 46-34 rebounding advantage but Waldorf came up with 11 steals.
“They were a big physical team and really athletic,” Steinkamp said. “They’ve had a couple of good wins and coming into this game had a whole 10 days to prepare. So they threw some different stuff at us and I thought we did a really good job of responding.”
Johnson finished one block shy of Jeff Verhoef’s 1978 single-game record. He has 19 blocks on the year, an average of 4.8 per game. Johnson also had nine rebounds and five assists.
“Grant is just unbelievable with those blocks,” Steinkamp said. “We funnel to him and ask him to do a lot at the rim. He was excellent.”
Point guard Drew Edwards (5th-year, Eden Prairie, Minn.) had a game-high six assists and seven rebounds.
“I thought Drew Edwards did a really good job of keeping us organized,” Steinkamp said. “He doesn’t shoot the ball a lot, but he made enough shots and continues to be one of the best assists guys in the league. He was plus-18 on plus-minus so good things happen when he’s on the floor.”
Central opens American Rivers play at home Tuesday taking on Simpson College in a women’s-men’s doubleheader. Simpson is 2-1 and is coming off an 81-64 victory over Bethany Lutheran (Minn.). The men’s game is slated for 7:30 p.m. at P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium. Live stats and a video webcast can be accessed through athletics.central.edu.
“Simpson had a great win the other night against a really good Bethany Lutheran team,” Steinkamp said. “They have some really good, experienced players. Hopefully we’ll have a great atmosphere here at Kuyper.”
