Dutch drop men’s basketball contest to Prairie Wolves
Central Dutch Athletics
PELLA — In a back-and-forth contest Wednesday night, the Central College men’s basketball team fell to Iowa Conference foe Nebraska Wesleyan 99-86.
With 11:29 remaining in the second half, Central faced a 60-59 deficit but was unable to overtake Nebraska Wesleyan (6-0 overall, 2-0 conference). The Prairie Wolves scored on 12-straight possessions to take an 88-76 lead.
“The difference in the game tonight was they made shots in the second half and we didn’t,” said coach Craig Douma. “We cut the lead to one and couldn’t get the lead before they went on a long run.”
Nebraska Wesleyan shot 61.3 percent from the field in the second half, while Central shot 41 percent.
Central was led by senior forward Malik Wildermuth (Normal, Ill., University HS) with 18 points and three rebounds.
“Malik had a great stat line tonight,” said Douma. “He battled foul trouble throughout the game which limited him to 28 minutes and we probably needed him around 33 minutes in a game like tonight.”
Inserted in the starting lineup for injured senior guard Trashawn Boyd (Normal, Ill., University HS), junior guard Jamel McKnight (Austin, Texas, Hendrickson HS) had 16 points, five rebounds, four assists and a block in his first career start.
“Jamel was able to get it going for a bit tonight,” said Douma. “When he’s knocking down threes, he’s tough to guard because he has such a great first step.”
Senior forward Andre Johnson (Alief, Texas, Hastings HS) provided a spark off the bench for the Dutch, scoring 16 points, grabbing three rebounds and dishing out an assist.
“Andre is playing confidently right now,” said Douma. “He’s able to get to the rim with his strength and knocked down some shots early for us.”
Sophomore forward Seth Wood (Branson, Mo.) had 14 points, including 4-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc and grabbed six rebounds. Freshman forward Caden Mauck (Lee’s Summit, Mo., Blue Springs South HS) played a career-high 23 minutes and had 10 points, seven rebounds and a block.
“We had some younger guys step up and play some crucial minutes tonight,” said Douma. “I’m interested to see how they’re going to grow from tonight and continue to develop.”
With the loss Central fell to 2-5 overall and 2-1 in league play.
The Dutch head to Washington-St. Louis University Saturday for a 3 p.m. tip in St. Louis, Mo. Central knocked off WashU 84-80 last season in Pella when the Bears were ranked 13th nationally. The Bears enter Saturday ranked 11th in the latest d3hoops.com poll.
