Cold shooting plagues Central men’s basketball team

Central College

Central College

DAVENPORT — After building a four-game winning streak by shooting more than 40 percent from beyond the arc, the Central College men’s basketball team could not find the shooting touch it had in recent weeks in a 73-46 loss to Mt. Mercy Saturday.

Despite the poor offensive numbers, the Dutch (6-2) found themselves trailing the Mustangs (11-3) by just seven points, 35-28, at halftime.

“We felt pretty good going into the half,” said coach Craig Douma. “We didn’t shoot the ball well in the first half and still went in down only seven.”

But the Dutch were outscored 38-18 after halftime.

“We took some uncharacteristic shots in the second half that we don’t normally take and those just kind of compounded,” said Douma.

Central finished the game 17-for-68 (25 percent) from the field and 2-for-34 (six percent) from beyond the arc. Mt. Mercy turned the missed shots into points on the other end of the floor by picking up the pace in transition.

“They play so fast,” said Douma. “They are a really good transition team.”

While things did not go well on the offensive end of the floor for Central, Douma was pleased with his team’s defensive effort.

“I thought we played well defensively,” said Douma. “We held them to 40 percent from the field and we feel pretty good about that.”

Guard Aaron Rosenstiel (senior, Oelwein) was the lone Dutch player in double figures, finishing with 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds, including five on the offensive glass.

“Aaron plays hard,” said Douma. “He really brought energy today and he never quit.”

This weekend’s schedule was a challenge for the Dutch, with Saturday’s contest starting less than 16 hours after Friday night’s game had ended.

“We had the most difficult turnaround of all four teams, playing the last game Friday and then playing first today,” said Douma.

After playing six games in 15 days, Central will have six days off before its next game as the team focuses on final fall semester exams.

“We have played a lot of ballgames here the last two weeks,” said Douma. “Now we actually have a chance to break things down in practice.”

The Dutch will travel to St. Louis Friday to take on Webster (Mo.) (6-3) at 8 p.m.

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