Dutch down Beavers in men’s basketball league tournament opener
Central Dutch Athletics
STORM LAKE — A familiar story had its first excerpt written Tuesday night as the Central College men’s basketball team knocked off Buena Vista University 84-70 in the opening round of the Iowa Conference tournament.
Central (11-15 overall) headed to Storm Lake as the sixth seed to take on third-seeded Buena Vista. It’s the third consecutive year Central has gone on the road and defeated its opening round opponent and in the previous two years, Central has made the league tournament championship game.
“It was an overall great night for us,” said coach Craig Douma. “We defended really well and were able to have a balance-scoring attack. Our guys have been in this situation before and they came to play tonight.”
Central was led offensively by senior sharpshooter Kyle Smith (Grand River, New Hampton HS) with 17 points, six rebounds and four assists. Smith knocked down a 3-pointer with 14:28 left in the game to give Central a 47-43 lead. With the trifecta, Smith became Central’s all-time leader in three-point field goals made in a season. Smith holds the career three-point mark with 253 (686 att.).
“Kyle did a nice job of letting the game come to him tonight,” said Douma. “He rebounded the ball extremely well and hit a couple big 3s for us.”
Junior point guard Jamel McKnight (Austin, Texas, Hendrickson HS) had 16 points, four rebounds and three assists. Senior forward Malik Wildermuth (Normal, Ill., University HS) had 15 points and six rebounds.
“Jamel and Malik did a nice job of letting the game come to them tonight,” said Douma. “They did a good job of not forcing shots and defended well.”
Central hit 13-of-25 3-pointers from six different players. Smith (2-of-4), McKnight (4-of-6), Nick Drucker (senior, Grimes, Dallas Center-Grimes HS) (1-of-3), Andre Johnson (Alief, Texas, Hastings HS) (2-of-5), Adam Flinn (Wildwood, Mo., Lafayette HS) (2-of-2) and Jaden Moody (Cambridge, Ballard HS) (2-of-2). Flinn and Moody’s 3s were crucial according to Douma.
“Adam and Jaden both were 2-for-2 from beyond the arc and they were huge 3s for us,” he said. “If we don’t get those we might be talking about a different game. They came in and gave us great minutes.”
Senior reserve Jacob Hay (Stanwood, North Cedar HS) caught the attention of Douma as well.
“Jacob made a ton of plays that don’t necessarily always show up in the box score,” he said. “He goes and grabs rebounds that are out of his area and he was a huge reason why we outrebounded them tonight.”
The Dutch owned the glass 39-28 and outshot the Beavers 52.9 percent to 41. Central put the game away at the charity stripe, shooting 17-of-21.
The win is the first time Central has defeated Buena Vista in Storm Lake during the league tournament in five tries.
Central’s season continues Thursday evening with a trip to Dubuque for a matchup with No. 2 seed Loras College. Loras won both contests against Central this year with the last contest being a 94-85 game in Pella.
“We need to defend better than the last two times we’ve played Loras,” said Douma. “We can’t allow them to get off to a great start and we just have to continue to play like we did tonight. Our guys are hungry and they’ll be ready to go for Thursday.”
The winner of Thursday’s matchup takes on the winner of No. 1 seed Nebraska Wesleyan University and No. 5 seed Wartburg College. In 2016, Wartburg and Central met in the conference tournament championship with the Dutch prevailing 92-80 on the Knights’ home floor. Last season Wartburg returned the favor, defeating Central 89-85 in Pella to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III national tournament.
