Central plagued by men’s basketball shooting woes in loss

CEDAR RAPIDS—A 48-point first half carried Coe College to an 85-59 victory over the Central College men’s basketball team Saturday.

There were more offensive struggles for Central (4-13 overall, 1-8 American Rivers), which hit only 32.2% from the field, including a frosty 17.4% from 3-point range (4-23).

Coe (15-5 overall, 7-4 conference) led wire-to-wire, taking command with a 48-26 halftime advantage by shooting 57.6% from the field. The Kohawks hit 48.6% for the game.

“Coe’s playing really well but I just thought we played back on our heels all afternoon,” coach Craig Douma said. “We can’t let them come at us like that. They were the aggressors and we got in foul trouble right away.”

But offense was the bigger issue.

“In the second half we came out and got six straight stops but only scored two points,” Douma said. “That really hurt us today. It was just a poor shooting performance. It was frustrating.”

Forward Caden Mauck (5th-year, Kansas City, Mo., Blue Springs South HS) was the lone Dutch player in double figures with 13.

“Caden did some good things,” Douma said. “He was aggressive offensively and got to the line a little bit.”

Guard Jalen Wilmington (junior, Chicago, Ill., Crete Monee HS) had five rebounds while center Joshua Van Gorp (sophomore, Pella, Pella Christian HS) had three blocked shots.

Saturday’s contest was the first of four in eight days for the Dutch. Monday they play host to the University of Dubuque in a 7 p.m. game at P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium. The Spartans lead the league at 8-1 and are 13-5 overall after an 84-64 rout of Nebraska Wesleyan University at home Saturday. A video webcast and live stats of Monday’s game can be accessed through the Central athletics website at athletics.central.edu.