Central rallies but suffers Wisconsin men’s basketball setback
Central Dutch Athletics
WAUKESHA, WIS.—Central College made a spirited second-half run but St. Norbert College (Wis.) hung on for a 76-68 men’s basketball decision Friday night.
Competing in the Nicholas Investments Tip-Off Classic hosted by Carroll University (Wis.), the young Dutch (0-2) were down 37-26 at the half and 51-39 in the second half. But a 13-4 burst cut the lead to three. Then, with just 2:42 left, the Dutch pulled within 67-66 and were pressuring St. Norbert (1-1) with the shot clock running down when the Green Knights hit a pivotal 3-point shot.
“They just did a good job of finding the open guy,” Douma said. “They made some clutch plays down the stretch.”
Two Central turnovers and another St. Norbert three followed to put the game away.
Guard Jaden Moody (junior, Cambridge, Ballard HS) had a team-high 19 points, eight rebounds and three assists for Central.
“Jaden had a nice floor game,” Douma said. “He attacked the basket, shot in rhythm, defended and rebounded.”
Guard Jamel McKnight (senior, Austin, Texas, Hendrickson HS) came on strong, Douma said, finishing with 14 points.
“Jamel had a lot better second half,” he said. “He was disappointed with how he played in the first half.”
Forward Seth Wood (junior, Branson, Mo.) added 13 points and freshman forward Thomas Spoehr (Bennington, Neb.) had a career-best 11 with six rebounds.
The Dutch shot a steamy 68 percent in the second half and 55.1 percent overall and despite being outsized, as they will be much of the year, held their own on the boards, 28-28. But they committed 18 turnovers.
“We had too many turnovers,” Douma said. “We did not take care of the ball.”
Still, after a 103-77 thrashing by Wis.-River Falls last Saturday in the season opener, Douma was encouraged.
“We played a much better game,” he said. “We shared the basketball. We got open looks. We made big strides.”
The Dutch meet classic host Carroll Saturday at 4 p.m. The Pioneers took on American Rivers rival Nebraska Wesleyan University in the other tourney game later Friday evening. After exhibition games against Division I Marquette University (Wis.) and Bradley University (Ill.), Carroll opened the season with a 100-63 rout of Rockford University (Ill.) last Saturday. The Pioneers were 12-13 last year and 8-8 in the powerful College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, winning seven of their last eight games, including an upset of nationally ranked Augustana College (Ill.).
