Central men’s basketball seniors shine
PELLA-It was Senior Day for the Central College men’s basketball team Saturday, both in pregame introductions and throughout a 77-62 victory over Luther College Saturday.
The win, combined with a University of Dubuque’s 74-66 victory at Loras College, moves the Dutch (17-8 overall, 11-5 conference) into a three-way tie for third place with those schools in the final American Rivers standings. Central will carry the No. 5 seed into the six-team conference tournament and open play Tuesday at No. 4 Dubuque (20-5 overall) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday’s winner travels next Thursday to top-seeded Nebraska Wesleyan University for a 7 p.m. semifinal, with the championship game set for Saturday. The tourney winner receives the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA Division III tournament.
Central defeated the Spartans 85-75 at Pella Jan. 14, but was overwhelmed at Dubuque Feb. 10, 96-64.
“This is kind of the rubber match,” coach Joe Steinkamp said. “Our guys have been excited about this conference tournament for a long time.”
Saturday, fifth-year point guard Drew Edwards (Eden Prairie, Minn.) was among several seniors who shined. He delivered a game-high 16 points to go with seven assists, five rebounds and just one turnover in nearly 35 minutes of action.
“I thought Drew Edwards had a great all-around game, sharing the ball, scoring, hitting threes, playing really good defense,” Steinkamp said.
All-America center Joshua Van Gorp (senior, Pella) recorded his 11th double-double of the season and 18th of his career with 14 points and 12 rebounds along with five assists and a blocked shot. Guard Kaleb Brand (senior, Mount Vernon) had 14 points and six rebounds while guard Brad Curren (freshman, Harlan) added 11.
“Luther did a really good job of limiting Josh’s touches and being extremely physical with him, but different guys stepped up,” Steinkamp said. “It’s always good to have four guys in double figures. Kaleb and Brad got going from three in the second half so it’s just really fun to get a lot of guys playing at a high level going into next week.”
Central limited Luther (7-18 overall, 2-14 conference) to just 25.8% shooting in taking a 32-19 halftime lead.
“The first half, defensively, we really came out and executed our game plan,” Steinkamp said. “Our guys were really physical into the ball and forced a lot of jump shots.”
Both teams came out firing in the second half, with the Norse outshooting Central 59.3% to 52.9%.
“Both teams got hot for a while and it was kind of an offensive explosion,” Steinkamp said. “We hit nine threes in the second half, which was really fun.”
The Dutch were without starting forward Grant Johnson (5th-year, Waukee, Van Meter HS) due to injury but he was still among seven seniors honored before the game, joined by Edwards, Van Gorp, Kaleb Brand, forward Nolan Brand (Mount Vernon), forward Kole Tupa (Center Point, Center Point-Urbana HS) and guard Zach Kusper (Orland Park, Ill., Carl Sandburg HS).
“It’s a really special group,” Steinkamp said. “They’ve really done a great job of being winners and improving the culture of Central basketball in a really positive, hard-working way. They’re an absolute joy to coach and make our jobs and our lives great every day. And just like they don’t want it to end, we don’t want to stop coaching them. So we want to keep it going as long as we can.”
