Van Gorp pumps in 28 in Central men’s basketball runaway
ST. LOUIS, MO.—Center Joshua Van Gorp (junior, Pella, Pella Christian HS) owned the paint and the Central College men’s basketball team owned the game.
Van Gorp poured in a career-high 28 points and the Dutch (2-2) put in another lockdown defensive effort to stifle Webster University (Mo.) 66-45 at the Webster University Classic Friday.
Van Gorp was nearly unstoppable down low, hitting 13 of 16 shots and also grabbing nine rebounds.
“He keeps the ball high and he’s got great touch around the rim,” said coach Joe Steinkamp. “And he works so hard to get in great position. He doesn’t just get it on the block, he gets in so deep he doesn’t even have to make a post move.”
While Webster dropped to 0-5, Steinkamp noted that the Gorloks nearly upset No. 16 Washington-St. Louis (Mo.) Tuesday before dropping a 53-52 decision. But he liked Central’s poise.
“We defended well throughout the game,” he said. “We were just methodical. It wasn’t a game of runs, we just steadily pulled away.”
After Van Gorp scored 18 first-half points on 8-of-9 shooting as Central took a 33-27 lead, Steinkamp knew that he would draw increased defensive attention in the second half.
“A key stretch was at the start of the second half when they came out in a zone but we didn’t get rattled,” Steinkamp said. “We scored on three straight possessions and they had to get out of it.”
Central also got 11 points from guard Kade Terrell (5th-year, Montrose, Colo.) while forward Grant Johnson (senior, Waukee, Van Meter HS) had nine points, a game-high 10 rebounds and five assists. The Dutch outrebounded Webster 46-33 and shot 48.3% from the field while limiting Webster to an icy 28.7%.
Central’s interior dominance was most evident by the squad’s 44-18 advantage on points in the paint.
The biggest negative was Central’s 18 turnovers.
“We got a little sloppy at times,” Steinkamp said.
For the second week in a row, the Dutch will have a quick weekend turnaround, tackling Westminster College (Mo.) Saturday at 1 p.m. The Blue Jays are 0-3 after tumbling against DePauw University (Ind.) 73-63 in Friday night’s first game. Central last met Westminster in 2015 and the teams’ series is tied 3-3.
The Dutch notched an 80-43 victory over Lawrence University (Wis.) last Saturday on short rest.
“We did a good job last weekend so we’ll stick to the same routine,” Steinkamp said. “We’ll do the same things and hopefully get a good result again.”
