WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. — A late second-half surge had the Central College men's basketball team battling back from a 20-point deficit, however the comeback bid fell short.

The Dutch dropped the contest to No. 20-ranked Wis.-Whitewater 79-68 Friday evening. Central (7-4) trailed Wis.-Whitewater 44-33 at the half and fell behind by 22 points in the second half. Central clawed its way to within 10 but no further.

Senior forward Colby Taylor (Creston) led the Dutch with 21 points and collected seven rebounds, junior guard Trashawn Boyd (Normal, Ill., University HS) had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists and senior forward Austin Glawe (Aurelia, Sioux Central HS) added nine points and seven rebounds.

"I told the guys after the game tonight how proud I am of them for the effort they've given the last two nights," said coach Craig Douma, whose squad took on a demanding non-conference slate. "We didn't have our full team the past two nights so we were forced to play with different lineups. The guys showed grit tonight. We're playing for the Central basketball program and no one else. The guys know they aren't going to get any help from anyone outside of the program."

Senior guard Tate Handsaker (Nevada) left the game after just nine minutes of play and the Dutch were also without junior forward Malik Wildermuth (Normal, Ill., University HS).

Central owned the rebound battle 41-30 and outshot the Warhawks 40.4% to 38.6%. Wis.-Whitewater (11-0) entered the game averaging 50.5% shooting from 3-point range but was limited to 33.3%.

Central returns to Iowa Conference action Wednesday night as the Dutch host Luther College in a women's-men's doubleheader with the men's contest to tip at 8 p.m. at P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium. Luther (1-8 overall, 0-3conference) heads into the contest having lost four straight games while Central has dropped three. The Dutch won both battles with the Norse last season.