Central men’s basketball team hits last-second shot in road victory
Central College
DECORAH — With six seconds on the clock, the Central College men’s basketball team trailed by one without the ball when forward Colby Taylor (sophomore, Creston) came up with a steal. Taylor made a pass to forward Tate Handsaker (sophomore, Nevada), who drained a game-winning shot with one second left for the Dutch in a thrilling 70-69 win at Luther College Saturday.
“One of the big keys in the situation was that we didn’t rush a shot,” said coach Craig Douma. “The guys were aware of how much time was on the clock, and we made the most of that six seconds. We found the open man.”
The Dutch (13-10, 6-6 Iowa Conference) were in control of the game, leading the Norse (8-15, 4-8) 68-60 with 2:25 to play, when Luther led a furious comeback by knocking down 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions to take a 69-98 lead with 29 seconds left.
Central then ran an offensive possession that ended in a held ball, and Luther took over on the possession arrow. The Dutch were forced to foul with seven seconds remaining and had three fouls to give before Luther would be in the bonus. After committing two quick fouls the Dutch came up with the steal on the inbounds pass that led to the game-winning jumper by Handsaker.
“We had four fouls to give to get to the bonus, and they were going to run the clock out,” said Douma. “So, we had to make a play on the ball, and the guys did a great job defending. We did a great job of denying them and putting pressure on them. They made an errant pass, and we made a play.”
Handsaker finished with a career-high 11 points on an efficient 4-for-5 from the floor and 3-for-4 from beyond the arc.
“Tate had a heck of a ballgame,” said Douma. “He defends so well, and he shut his guy down. He really stepped up tonight offensively, too, by knocking some shots down.”
Forward Kyle Newendorp (senior, Pella) notched his fifth double-double of the season for the Dutch, scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds while blocking two shots. Douma said Newendorp played well on both ends of the floor.
“He had to guard a guy who is one of the most difficult guys to guard in our conference for any center because of his 3-point shooting ability,” said Douma. “Kyle Newendorp stepped up big tonight.”
Taylor added 15 points and five boards for Central and guard Kyle Smith (freshman, Ionia, New Hampton HS) had 12 points, 10 of which came after halftime. Douma said Smith and guard Trashawn Boyd (freshman, Normal, Ill., University HS) played key roles late in the game.
“When we made a little bit of a run in that second half those two guys were on the floor making plays,” said Douma.
Guard Nile Eckermann (senior, Cosgrove, Clear Creek Amana HS) had a quiet night offensively, but his one 3-pointer gave him 70 for the season, tying the record set by Wade Vander Molen in the 1999-2000 season. He was also the team’s second leading rebounder Saturday with six boards.
Luther had two players in double figures, led by Austin Cale with 12 points.
Central’s final two regular season games will be at home starting with a matchup against Loras (9-14, 4-8) Wednesday at 8 p.m. The Duhawks downed the Dutch 83-71 Jan. 17 in Dubuque. A video webcast and live stats of the game will be available through the Central athletics website at www.central.edu/athletics.
