Wis.-River Falls out-muscles Central men’s basketball squad
Central Dutch Athletics
PELLA—A young Central College men’s basketball team was outsized and outmuscled in a season-opening loss to Wis.-River Falls Saturday, 103-77.
The Dutch were hammered 50-28 on the boards and increased its degree of difficulty by encountering foul problems and shooting just 36.9 percent from the floor, including 29.4 percent in the first half. Yet coach Craig Douma sees much he likes in his squad.
“We battled hard,” he said. “I’m proud of our effort.”
Central held its own for the game’s first 5 minutes, trailing 17-14, but Wis.-River Falls reeled off 12 unanswered points and held a double-digit lead the rest of the way, including a 54-33 halftime advantage.
Forward Seth Wood (junior, Branson, Mo.) had 15 points and six rebounds while forward Jaden Moody (junior, Cambridge, Ballard HS) had 10 points. Wis.-River Falls (1-0) placed six players in double figures and shot 53.6 percent from the field, including a sizzling 55.6 percent from 3-point range, going 15-of-27. Central was nine-of-31 from deep.
“They’ve got six kids 6-6 or taller they can rotate in and out,” Douma said. “And we got in such bad foul trouble. We tried playing small for a while but their physicality got to us. That opened up the outside game for them and they have really good guards.”
Central still had opportunities.
“It wasn’t that we didn’t get shots,” Douma said. “I thought we took some early shots at times and that hurt us, but we got good shots. But we shot as badly as we have in a long time.
“We’re doing what we want to do. We attacked the rim and got to the foul line. But we’ve got to make outside shots.”
Central had 25 free throws, hitting 20.
Central journeys to Waukesha, Wisconsin next weekend for the Nicholas Investments Tip-Off Classic hosted by Carroll University (Wis.). The Dutch battle St. Norbert College (Wis.) Friday at 5 p.m. and Carroll Saturday at 4 p.m. It’s a first-ever meeting with St. Norbert. The Green Knights were 19-7 a year ago and 14-4 in the Midwest Conference. They’ve had six straight seasons with 19 or more wins and return three of their top six scorers from last year. St. Norbert opened the season Saturday with a 78-68 loss at Northwestern-St. Paul (Minn.).
