Van Gorp dominates and delivers a road win for Central men’s basketball team
LINCOLN, NEB- For the third consecutive game against Nebraska Wesleyan University, Joshua Van Gorp (5th-year, Pella, Pella Christian HS) eclipses 30 points and led the Central College men’s basketball team to a 70-55 win.
Van Gorp led all scorers with 31 points on 14-of-18 shooting while also collecting 11 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season. He added two steals and one block.
“Van Gorp was fantastic today,” said coach Joe Steinkamp. “He kept coming at them and his rebounds were all huge.”
As a team the Dutch (9-6, 4-2 American Rivers) dished out 22 assists with Owen Schipper (freshman, Waukee) collecting seven and Kaleb Brand (5th-year, Mount Vernon) added six. Schipper scored eight points and had nine rebounds, while Brand scored eight points while also collecting four rebounds and two blocks.
“I am proud of how we responded to their hot start the guys did an excellent job of finding Van Gorp, but they were also aggressive and scored other paint baskets” Steinkamp said. “Schipper and Brand did a great job of filling the stat sheet while also playing well on the defensive end of the court.”
Off the bench Grant Uecker (freshman, Urbandale) scored five points and had two assists. Will Henricksen () scored seven points.
“Henrickson and Uecker provided a great spark off the bench when we needed it,” said Steinkamp.
As a team the Dutch shot 57.7% from the field and 35.7% from three compared to holding Nebraska Wesleyan (11-4, 4-2 American Rivers) to 29.9% from the field and 16.1% from three. Central outscored the Prairie Wolves 50-28 in the paint leading to a 39-26 second half score.
“Our team showed a lot of composure early on. Nebraska Wesleyan got off to a great start, but we stuck with it and played one possession at a time,” Steinkamp said. “I thought we really executed defensively. We did a great job of keeping them off balance and we didn’t give them easy buckets. I also want to shout out the white team in practice. They did a great job during the week acting like our opponent. It was more than just the guys who played to help get this win.”
The team plays next when it travels to take on Dubuque University on Saturday at 4 p.m.
“It was a big win for us, it is hard to come here and get a win, but we have to get ready for another road test Saturday,” said Steinkamp. “Dubuque is a playing excellent, and we will need another great effort to win.”
