PELLA — Senior guard Pete Walker's (Red Oak) 28 point- and eight rebound- performance was not enough, as the Central College men's basketball team fell 89-85 to Wartburg College Saturday.

Saturday's Iowa Conference tournament championship was a rematch from last season, when Central secured the tourney crown by winning at Waverly, becoming the first team to even win the title with three straight road victories. But this time, sixth-seeded Wartburg earned the league's automatic NCAA Division III tournament berth .

Central held a 43-34 lead at halftime but surrendered 55 second-half points. Wartburg outshot Central 44.8 percent from the field to 41.3 and both teams corralled 42 rebounds. The Knights connected on 15-of-16 attempts from the charity stripe compared to the Dutch's 10-of-17.

Senior forward Colby Taylor (Creston) had 19 points and eight rebounds in an injury-limited effort. Taylor was sidelined during Thursday's win at Nebraska Wesleyan. Taylor finishes his career with the Dutch as the school's all-time leader in points (1856), field goals made (633), field goals attempted (1304), 3-pointers attempted (587), 3-pointers made (233), games played (111), games started (98) and minutes played (3,320). Taylor also set the school season free throw percentage record (.925). He was a part of two NCAA tournament appearances.

"Colby's been a four-year starter for us," said coach Craig Douma. "He's always been a guy we could go to every night. He's a special young man."

Junior forward Kyle Smith (Ionia, New Hampton HS) added 10 points, four rebounds and four assists. Smith tied the school's season 3-pointers made in a season record (74) with Nile Eckermann (2011-15) and was one 3-point attempt short of tying Eckermann's season record of 206 attempts from beyond the arc.

Senior center Ryan Kunkel (Solon) had 13 rebounds and four blocks. Kunkel ends his playing career as the all-time leader in blocks (139) and blocked shots average (1.7), he also set the school records for most swats in a season (65) and blocked shots average (2.4).

In addition to Taylor's injury, the Dutch were without senior forward Austin Glawe (Aurelia, Sioux Central HS), who was also injured at Nebraska Wesleyan Thursday. Senior guard Tate Handsaker (Nevada) was lost for the year with an early season injury. Meanwhile, Walker missed nine games with injury as well but was a major factor for Central down the stretch, averaging 24.6 points in the final five games.

"The injury bug bit us this year," said Douma. "But our athletic trainers here are fantastic. We probably worked (the athletic trainers) more than we wanted to but they were able to get our guys ready."

Saturday was the first loss in four trips to the league tournament championship game and first loss in three home appearances in the title game.

Central says goodbye to Douma's first recruiting class and it's one he won't forget.

"These guys have set the bar extremely high for our program," he said. "The bar has been set at conference titles, conference tournament titles and NCAA tournament bids. I'm extremely proud of this team."