Dutch catch fire from beyond the arc in men’s basketball win
Central College
CEDAR RAPIDS — The Central College men’s basketball team drained 17 3-pointers, including 10 in the second half, to knock off Coe College 78-75 on the road Wednesday.
The Dutch (12-10 overall, 5-6 Iowa Conference) made a free throw to extend their lead over the Kohawks (13-9, 7-4) to 76-72 with 20 seconds left. Coe came down and sank a three while drawing a foul with 10.5 seconds on the clock. The Kohawks missed the game-tying free throw but got the offensive rebound. They missed a jumper and the ball went out of bounds and Central got possession. Guard Nile Eckermann (senior, Cosgrove, Clear Creek Amana HS was fouled with less than one second remaining and made two free throws to help the Dutch earn the three-point road victory.
Making shots from beyond the arc is nothing new for the Central men this season. The Dutch average 9.5 threes per game, which ranks 19th in Division III play. They have made at least 15 3-pointers in a game four times this season.
“We did a great job of playing unselfish tonight,” said coach Craig Douma. “We found the open man and we knocked shots down.”
The Dutch used balanced scoring with three players in double figures led by Eckermann, who was 5-for-8 from beyond the arc and finished with 19 points and seven assists.
“Nile Eckermann really stepped up tonight,” said Douma. “He hit some big shots, especially in that second half.”
Eckermann now has 69 threes on the season which is tied for second in Central history, one behind Wade Vander Molen’s 70.
Other players in double figures for the Dutch included forward Colby Taylor (sophomore, Creston) and guard Austin Hauser (junior, Marshalltown). Taylor had 18 points and eight rebounds while Hauser had 12 points and three assists. Guard Kyle Smith (freshman, Ionia, New Hampton HS) chipped in nine points for Central, all of them coming after halftime.
Coe was led offensively by Matt Daoust, who finished with 25 points, and JT Vonderhaar, who had 20. The Kohawks got off to a fast start, building a 14-point lead, 30-16, with 6:42 to play in the first half.
“Early on we didn’t execute the way we wanted to execute and we didn’t play with urgency,” said Douma. “We also didn’t take care of the ball.”
Central then closed the half on an 18-6 run to cut the deficit to 36-34 at the half.
“Guys just kind of came together and our offense got better,” said Douma. “We called a few set plays to get some movement offensively. After that the guys started to figure it out. We played better on offense, which led to better defense.”
The Dutch finished the game shooting 27-for-52 (51.9 percent) from the field and 17-for-36 (47.2 percent) from beyond the arc. The 17 threes were three shy of the single game record of 20, set earlier this season in a win against Martin Luther (Minn.).
The one spot Central struggled shooting the ball Wednesday was at the free throw line. The Dutch were just 7-for-13 (53.8 percent) at the line, well below their season average of 76.7 percent. They were able to hit them down the stretch though, sinking five out of six in the final minute.
Central will play its final road game of the regular season Saturday at Luther College (8-14, 4-7) at 4 p.m. The Dutch defeated the Norse 92-89 Jan. 10 in Pella behind 29 points from Taylor and 28 from Eckermann. The game will be broadcasted by KRLS-FM (92.1). The broadcast can also be accessed through www.kniakrls.com. Douma said every game is critical with just three regular season games remaining.
“We are playing teams down the stretch here who are all kind of playing for a seed in the conference tournament,” said Douma. These games are very important for us. We want to knock Luther off again because that would give us two wins against them. You are going to be in a tiebreaker situation with somebody down the stretch and we want to make sure we take care of our business.”
