Dutch storm back but fall in men’s basketball league tourney

Central College

Central College

PELLA — After trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half the Central College men’s basketball team roared back to take the lead, but came up just short in a 77-71 loss to Wartburg College in the Iowa Conference tournament Wednesday night.

Forward Colby Taylor (sophomore, Creston) drained a 3-pointer with 2:26 to play to give the Dutch (15-11) a 70-69 lead over the Knights (14-12). Wartburg then used two baskets and four free throws to close the game on an 8-1 run and hold off the Dutch. Central had a chance to tie the game with 28 seconds remaining but came up empty on a 3-point attempt. Central coach Craig Douma said his team struggled with shot selection down the stretch.

“We had two or three possessions that we probably didn’t take the best of shots,” said Douma. “I thought we shot it quick and bailed them out with quick threes. We were trying to do too much in one possession rather than just let the game come to us.”

The Dutch were eliminated from the league tournament with the loss

Guard Kyle Smith (freshman, Ionia, New Hampton HS) was Central’s leading scorer with 15 points. He was 5-for-7 from the field and 4-for-5 from beyond the arc.

“Kyle Smith really stepped up and shot the ball extremely well tonight,” said Douma.

Three other Dutch players were in double figures led by Taylor, who finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, two assists and four steals. His 43 steals are tied for seventh most in a season in Central history and his 250 total rebounds rank seventh as well.

Guard Nile Eckermann (senior, Cosgrove, Clear Creek Amana HS) and guard Austin Hauser (junior, Marshalltown) each added 11 points and four assists.

“Austin Hauser was really aggressive in the second half and got the rim,” said Douma. “He made plays for us and kept us in the ballgame.”

Forward Kyle Newendorp (senior, Pella) was Central’s leading rebounder with nine rebounds. He also chipped in eight points, two blocks and two steals. He threw down a few dunks during a Central run in the second half that energized the Dutch faithful in Kuyper Gym.

“Kyle Newendorp got some nice transition baskets,” said Douma. “He wowed the crowd with some pretty amazing plays. It was a great effort by him.”

His two blocks gave him 40 for the season, tying him for fourth in the Central record books with Jake Oleson’s 1996-97 season and Matt Greenfield’s 2012-13 campaign. Newendorp also shot 63 percent from the field on the season, which ranks third in Central history.

Wartburg was led offensively by Jordan Cannon. He had a double-double with 27 points and 14 rebounds. Nate Woeste added 13 points for the Knights and Clay Cook led them on the boards with 15 rebounds.

“Cannon played well for them,” said Douma. “He was aggressive all night and they just got him the basketball.”

Unlike the first two meetings of the season between these two teams, which both ended in Central victories, it was the Knights who jumped out to an early lead Wednesday. Wartburg led Central 23-5 with 10:49 to play in the first half. The Dutch whittled the deficit to single digits before heading to the locker room trailing by 14.

“Wartburg did a good job of just coming out and being really aggressive,” said Douma. “We got back on our heels and it took us about 10 minutes to gather ourselves defensively. They shot the ball well early.”

Central was plagued by cold-shooting and turnovers in the opening half. The Dutch were just 8-for-24 (33.3 percent) from the field, including 3-for-12 (25 percent) from beyond the arc, while committing 11 turnovers in the game’s first 20 minutes.

“The offense just struggled in the first half,” said Douma. “We did not take care of the ball. We lost about 30 percent of our possessions in the half and we can’t do that.”

The message in the Dutch locker room at halftime was to be more aggressive.

“We were very passive in the first half,” said Douma. “We attacked a lot harder in the second half and got better looks because of it.”

After Wartburg hit one free throw to extend its lead to 15 with 19:40 to play Central used an 18-6 run over a six-minute span to pull within 42-39. The teams traded baskets until Smith made a 4-point play to give the Dutch their first lead of the night, 55-54, with 8:41 to play. The lead changed hands 11 more times in the final eight and a half minutes before Wartburg ended the game on top.

The Dutch were able to both cut down on turnovers and shoot the ball better in the second half. They committed just four turnovers while shooting 15-for-28 (53.6 percent) after halftime.

Douma was proud of his team for playing as hard as they did in the second half and not giving up after facing the large deficit.

“It’s the story of our season,” said Douma. “We had a chance to give up when we were 3-8 in conference play and coming off a 40-point loss. The guys just stepped up after that. We went on a 5-game winning streak to end the season and finished fourth in the conference.”

Douma credits his coaching staff for the success his team had on the court this season.

“I appreciate the work my assistants do so much,” said Douma. They have great work ethic and Joe Steinkamp is a great assistant coach. I feel like we have two head coaches in our program and I’m blessed to have these guys.”

The Dutch will graduate six seniors who saw time on the court this season.

“The seniors are a bunch of guys that I feel overachieved because of their work ethic,” said Douma. “They showed a lot of toughness and a lot of leadership and resiliency. They have a lot to be proud of.”

The Central coach said although the team will lose some valuable seniors, there is a lot to look forward to next season.

“We have a lot of youth that stepped up this year,” said Douma. “We have a lot of work ahead of us, but our future is bright. There is a great foundation in our program between our junior varsity guys and the young guys that played on varsity this year.”

Posted by on Feb 25 2015. Filed under College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Comments are closed

         

Search Archive

Search by Date
Search by Category
Search with Google
Log in | Copyright by Oskaloosa News