Dutch drop men’s basketball contest against Vikings
Central College
ROCK ISLAND, ILL — The momentum hit a bump in the road.
The Central men’s basketball team fell to No. 24-ranked Augustana College (Ill.) 88-73 Friday night in Rock Island, Ill.
Central (7-2) had built momentum heading into the matchup Friday after crucial victories over last season’s Iowa Conference champion University of Dubuque last Wednesday and No. 13-ranked Washington-St. Louis University (Mo.) on Saturday. Friday night, the Dutch built an 11-point lead in first half and took a 35-34 lead into halftime but gave up a 53-point second half to the Vikings.
“We got beat by a good team tonight,” said coach Craig Douma. “We had a couple of breakdowns in the second half that were the difference in the game.”
Junior guard Trashawn Boyd (Normal, Ill., University HS) led the Dutch with 20 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, good for Boyd’s first career statistical double-double. But the Dutch were not at full strength.
“I thought Trashawn brought a lot of good energy tonight,” said Douma. “He played like a leader tonight.”
After missing the first half due to disciplinary reasons, senior forward Colby Taylor (Creston) added 14 points and four rebounds and senior forward Austin Glawe (Aurelia, Sioux Central HS) had 12 points and three rebounds. Senior guard Pete Walker (Red Oak) scored five points and added four rebounds before exiting the game with an injury late in the first half.
Central was also without the team’s second-leading scorer junior forward Kyle Smith (Grand River, New Hampton HS) due to disciplinary reasons.
“It’s tough to win games on the road when you’re short-handed,” said Douma. “I was impressed with how Colby handled himself in the second half.”
Central returns to action after the holidays, traveling to Wisconsin Dells, Wis. for the JustAgame Classic tournament. The Dutch will play the University of Wis-Stout December 29 at 5 p.m. followed by the No. 20-ranked University of Wis.-Whitewater December 30 at 3 p.m. Wis.-Stout brings an overall record of 6-2 and Wis.-Whitewater brings an undefeated 7-0 record into the tourney.
“The biggest thing for us, is to get healthy over the next few weeks,” said Douma. “We haven’t had a lot of games this year that we’ve been fully healthy for and when we get healthy, I feel we have a great group.”
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