Smith scores career high in men’s basketball loss

Central Dutch Athletics

INDIANOLA — Despite a career-high 34 points from senior forward Kyle Smith (Grand River, New Hampton HS), the Central College men’s basketball team fell 96-85 to Iowa Conference rival Simpson College Wednesday night.

Smith started slow, scoring nine points off 3-of-12 shooting in the first half before exploding for 25 second-half points on 7-of-10 shooting, including five 3-pointers.

“Kyle struggled a bit in the first half but then caught fire in the second half,” said coach Craig Douma. “He was able to keep us in the game for awhile with his shooting.”

Junior point guard Jamel McKnight (Austin, Texas, Hendrickson HS) had an efficient night, scoring 20 points off 8-of-10 shooting.

“Jamel did a nice job picking his spots tonight,” said Douma. “He had one of the best stat lines you could ask for.”

Douma was disappointed with his team giving up 58 second-half points after trailing 38-28 at the break.

“Anytime you score 57 points in a half you should win the game,” he said. “I’m not very happy with how we played defensively tonight. We had guys making uncharacteristic mistakes and other guys who let their offense dictate how they played defense.”

Simpson torched the nets, shooting 60.3 percent while holding Central to 46.2. The Storm were led by Connor Riordan with 39 points on 14-of-17 shooting.

“(Connor) Riordan didn’t miss tonight,” said Douma. “He was able to get some good looks and knocked them down.”

The Storm controlled the glass, winning the battle 34-30.

Central looks to get back to the winning column Saturday when Luther College (5-17, 0-13 conference) heads to P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium for a women’s-men’s doubleheader with the men beginning at 4 p.m. The Dutch won the first battle 86-82 in Decorah.

“Luther is a good team and they are well-coached,” said Douma. “We are going to have to be ready to play from the start. We always love playing in front of our home crowd.”