LINCOLN, NEB. — A back-and-forth game at Iowa Conference foe Nebraska Wesleyan turned into a 101-80 blowout loss for the Central College men's basketball team.
Central (11-9 overall, 5-6 conference) held a 47-46 advantage with 16:53 remaining in the second half when the Prairie Wolves went on a 55-33 run to close the game.
"We talk about finishing games all the time and tonight we didn't finish," said coach
Craig Douma. "I thought we battled in the first half and part of the second half but then things got away from us. They scored too many transition buckets tonight and wore us down."
Senior guard
Pete Walker (Red Oak) led the Dutch with 15 points, four rebounds and three assists, junior guard
Nick Drucker (Grimes, Dallas Center-Grimes HS) scored a career-high 12 points off the bench and junior forward
Kyle Smith (Ionia, New Hampton HS) had 11 points, four rebounds and four assists.
"I thought
Nick Drucker battled all game for us tonight," said Douma. "He came up with a couple steals and hit a couple shots for us to keep us going."
With his three blocks against the Prairie Wolves, senior forward
Ryan Kunkel (Solon) became the school career leader. Kunkel eclipsed Mike Valster's mark of 119 (1992-96) with 120 career blocks including 46 this season, eight behind Jeff Verhoef's 1978-79 record of 54. blocks in a season.
"Ryan has done a great job protecting the rim for us," said Douma. "He is crucial to our defense because he can control the paint."
Nebraska Wesleyan controlled the glass with a 48-33 rebound advantage. The Prairie Wolves outshot Central 45.6 percent to 40.6.
The Dutch return to P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium for a league contest with Wartburg College Saturday in a women's-men's doubleheader with the men beginning at 4 p.m. Wartburg enters the matchup coming off an 104-85 road win over Loras College Wednesday. Saturday's game will be Pink Day for the basketball programs. T-shirts will be available for purchase in the Kuyper Gym lobby for $10. The proceeds will be donated to an organization chosen by the Dutch basketball programs.
