Central men’s basketball team holds off Missouri Baptist
Central College
ST. LOUIS — The Central College men’s basketball team could not pull away from Missouri Baptist, but the Dutch knocked down clutch free throws late and made a defensive stop when they needed it in a 79-75 victory Tuesday night.
Missouri Baptist (1-3) drained 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions to pull within one with 47 seconds to go. Central (2-0) then took some time off the clock before driving in and missing a contested layup. Guard Aaron Rosenstiel (senior, Oelwein) grabbed the offensive rebound, was fouled and sank two free throws with 11 seconds to go to give the Dutch a three-point lead. Missouri Baptist missed a contested game-tying 3-pointer and Rosenstiel came down with another important rebound in the final seconds to seal the win for Central.
Guard Nile Eckermann (senior, Cosgrove, Clear Creek Amana HS) scored 20 points for the Dutch, doing most of his damage from beyond the arc, where he was 6-for-10.
“Nile had a good shooting night,” said coach Craig Douma. “He had some big answers for us. A couple of times they would tie it up and then Nile would come down and hit a three.”
Rosenstiel also scored 20 on the night, but a majority of his points came from the charity stripe. He was 12-for-18 from the free throw line, including 5-for-6 in the final minute of play. Douma was pleased with Rosenstiel’s performance.
“Aaron made plays,” said Douma. “He had a big offensive rebound to close the game out. He played really well and he played hard.”
Forward Colby Taylor (sophomore, Creston) scored 16 points and led Central in rebounds (seven) and assists (four).
Adrian Kuyinu had a game-high 28 points for Missouri Baptist and Stephen Buckner II added 21.
One area where Central struggled Tuesday night was rebounding. The Spartans hauled in 18 offensive boards and outrebounded the Dutch 46-32 in the game.
“We did not rebound like we should have,” said Douma. “If we clean the boards up we aren’t talking about a close game out there.”
The Dutch will have 11 days off before their next game Nov. 19 at Wis.-La Crosse (1-0). Douma said one of the focuses in practices over the next week and a half will be perfecting the rotations of players.
“We have a lot of guys that can play, we just have to find the right combination,” said Douma.
