Central drops men’s basketball home opener
Central Dutch Athletics
PELLA — A gauntlet of a non-conference schedule continued Saturday for the Central College men’s basketball team as it dropped its home opener, 78-64 to Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.).
Central’s (0-4) non-conference opponents have a combined 14-3 record. With the victory, Gustavus improved to 2-2.
“Tonight was about our offense,” said coach Craig Douma. “I thought our shot selection was suspect at times and there were times where our defense did its job but we came down and took a quick three.”
The Dutch shot 36.2 percent from the field and shot 10-of-31 from beyond the arc while the Gusties shot 44.1 percent from the floor and 9-of-23 from three.
Senior point guard Trashawn Boyd (Normal, Ill., University HS) led Central with 15 points. Senior forwards Kyle Smith (Grand River, New Hampton HS) had 13 points and four rebounds and Malik Wildermuth (Normal, Ill., University HS) had 11 points and two rebounds.
Sophomore forward Seth Wood (Branson, Mo.) provided a spark off the bench with 11 points, including two 3-pointers.
“I thought Seth had a pretty good game overall,” said Douma. “He did a nice job defense and had a couple of steals.”
Looking for interior help, Central turned to freshman forward Caden Mauck (Lee’s Summit, Mo., Blue Springs South HS), who had six points, five rebounds and an assist in 16 minutes.
“We’ve got plenty of new faces that are trying to gel,” said Douma. “We’ll look at different lineups and see where we go from here.”
Despite the 0-4 start, Douma has his sights set on the Iowa Conference opener Wednesday night.
“Right now, all our focus needs to be on Luther College,” said Douma.
A women’s-men’s doubleheader starts at 6 p.m. for the women’s game and an 8 p.m. men’s tip in Decorah. The last time the two teams squared off, the Dutch splashed a school record 24 3-pointers in a 105-70 rout.
