Dutch men hold off Duhawks, advance in league basketball tourney
Central College
DUBUQUE — Staving off a late Duhawk rally, the Central College men’s basketball team held on to beat Loras College 84-79 in the first round of the Iowa Conference basketball tournament Tuesday.
In control for nearly the entire game, the Dutch (19-7) held an 11-point lead with 4:17 remaining. The Duhawks (13-13) would go on a 14-4 run over the next 2:51 to close the gap to 78-77 with 1:26 left.
“You’ve got to give Loras credit,” coach Craig Douma said. “We weren’t getting stops and they were getting to the foul line and scoring.”
Following a timeout, the Dutch defense would stiffen up and junior forward Colby Taylor (Creston) took over offensively late in the game, scoring four of his 21 points in the final 1:14.
“We had to come up with something,” Douma said. “After the time out, we came out and scored twice and got two stops. Colby had some dagger post moves that helped seal the deal.”
Pete Walker (junior, Red Oak) was the team’s offensive catalyst throughout the night, finishing with a career-high 30 points. Walker was 11-of-16 from the field, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.
“Pete played an unbelievable ball game,” Douma said. “He got to the rim and made plays. He also shot well tonight, it was a really complete game for Pete.”
Central outrebounded Loras 37-33, thanks in part to a team-high 10 rebounds by forward Ryan Kunkel (junior, Solon). Taylor also contributed nine boards.
The reward for making it to the semifinals of the league tournament for the second time in three years is another trip to Dubuque to face the No. 1 seed University of Dubuque. The Spartans frustrated the Dutch offensive attack last Saturday in a 67-57 Spartan win.
“We didn’t rebound the ball as well we needed last time,” Douma said. “We’ve got to come out with more energy when it comes to rebounding. We’ve got to take care of the basketball. We didn’t do that last time and when you give up offensive possessions, you’re losing opportunities to score.”
