Central men’s basketball team earns road win with defense
Central College
WAVERLY — Wednesday’s 67-59 road victory against Wartburg was a little out of the ordinary for the Central College men’s basketball team. Instead of catching fire from beyond the arc and simply outscoring their opponent, the Dutch (9-5 overall, 2-1 Iowa Conference) clamped down on defense and held the Knights (9-5, 2-1) to 31-percent shooting.
Central was just 6-for-27 (22 percent) shooting 3’s Wednesday night, which was well below its season-average 34 percent.
“To not shoot the 3-ball well and still get a win on the road, that says a lot about our defense,” said coach Craig Douma. “It says a lot about the team and how they were able to find ways to score.”
Forward Kyle Newendorp (senior, Pella) came up big inside for Central, scoring 22 points on an efficient 8-of-10 shooting.
“We really wanted to get the ball inside to Kyle and attack them down low,” said Douma. “We thought we had an advantage there.”
Guard Nile Eckermann (senior, Cosgrove, Clear Creek Amana HS) found ways to score as well, finishing with 22 points. He was 9-for-17 from the field and 2-for-7 from beyond the arc.
“Nile did a great job of attacking the basket,” said Douma. “They took the 3-ball away, but he was able to get to the basket and finish really well. He made some really nice drives, and he got us going.”
Wartburg got off to a quick start with an 8-0 run out of the gate. Central then shifted the momentum and scored 31 of the game’s next 45 points to take a 31-22 lead into the half.
“In that last 10 minutes of the first half we dominated the boards, we forced them into tough shots and we attacked them offensively,” said Douma.
The Knights chipped away at the Dutch lead to open the second half, pulling with two, 39-37, with 12:35 to play. Central once again halted the Wartburg run and went on a 19-3 run to open up a 58-40 lead with 3:57 left. The Dutch finished off the Knights 67-59, handing them their first conference loss.
“We were able to spread the floor, and we continued to find Newendorp inside in the second half,” said Douma.
One area Douma was especially proud of his team was on the boards. Forward Colby Taylor (sophomore, Creston) was all over the glass, coming down with 15 rebounds, while forward Ryan Kunkel (sophomore, Solon) grabbed eight boards of his own.
“We rebounded the ball really well tonight against a very good rebounding team,” said Douma. “He found ways to get in position and finish around the basket.”
Defensively Central stole nine Wartburg passes and forced the Knights into 17 turnovers. The Central coach said two blocks by Kunkel in the second half had a big impact on the game.
“We had some guys come off the bench and play some big minutes defensively for us,” said Douma.
The Dutch will be on the road again Saturday, taking on Loras (6-8, 1-2) at 4 p.m.
