No. 6 Nebraska Wesleyan rallies past Central men’s basketball team
LINCOLN, NEB.—Central College couldn’t make a surprising early lead hold up against No. 6-ranked Nebraska Wesleyan University in a 91-70 road loss Saturday.
The Dutch (5-19 overall, 2-13 American Rivers) were up 13-9 with 13:45 left in the half but Nebraska Wesleyan took the lead for good with a 9-0 run and was on top 48-36 at the half.
While not happy about a 21-point loss, coach Craig Douma liked his team’s showing better than its 115-69 home-court thumping administered by the Prairie Wolves in Pella Jan. 18.
“This was a completely different effort,” he said. “We played a lot harder and gave a lot of effort. I was proud of that.”
Central guard Adam Flinn (junior, St. Louis, Mo., Lafayette HS) had 17 points and four assists. Forward Caden Mauck (junior, Kansas City, Mo., Blue Springs South HS) finished with eight points, a game-high 13 rebounds and five assists.
“Adam Flinn had a great first half,” Douma said. “And Caden Mauck did a great job on the glass.”
Nebraska Wesleyan (21-2 overall, 14-0 conference) put four players in double figures and outshot Central 45.8% to 35.1%. The Dutch struggled from 3-point range, shooting just 29.7%, including 23.8% (5-21) in the second half. Nebraska Wesleyan held a 52-44 rebounding advantage but Central did prevail on the offensive glass, a problem area in recent games, 17-16.
“We did not shoot the ball very well,” Douma said. “I was very happy with how we attacked against that zone. But you’ve got to make some of those shots. We did have some defensive breakdowns and they won the rebounding battle but we held them to a lot lower shooting percentage than they’re used to. They shot (30.6%) from three.”
Douma also liked the performance off the bench of guard Kade Terrell (sophomore, Olathe, Colo., Montrose HS), who had eight points and four rebounds in 16 minutes of action after being sidelined by injury.
“Kade Terrell gave great effort,” Douma said. “He came in and gave us a boost. It’s good to have him back healthy. He gives us a lot of energy with how he plays.”
But Central needed to score to stay in the game.
“We missed so many shots around the rim,” Douma said. “As these players get older and more mature, we’ll make those shots.”
Central journeys to Storm Lake for the season finale Wednesday night, a women’s -men’s doubleheader at Buena Vista University with the men’s game tipping off at 7:30 p.m. The Beavers are 8-6 in the league and 17-6 overall, defeating Central 90-75 at Pella Jan. 22.
They were defeated 81-72 at Coe College Saturday.
“Buena Vista’s a good team,” Douma said. “We can’t worry about scoring, I want us to finish the season the right way. It would be great to get a road win and get some momentum to go into the off-season. I want to see us defend, rebound and play with effort.”
