PELLA — Central College starting point guard Jamel McKnight (Austin, Texas, Hendrickson HS) poured in 25 points but McKnight's effort wasn't enough as the Dutch fell 94-85 to Iowa Conference leader Loras College Wednesday night.

"Jamel was great tonight," said coach Craig Douma. "He was really efficient and hit some big 3-pointers for us tonight. Jamel did a nice job attacking and played extremely hard."

McKnight grabbed six rebounds and made three shots from beyond the arc.

Central (8-12, 5-6 conference) received a huge lift off the bench from senior guard Nick Drucker (Grimes, Dallas Center-Grimes HS). Drucker finished with 14 points and led the team with seven rebounds, including four offensive.

"Nick played with such toughness tonight," said Douma. "He was a playmaker out there for us tonight and started the rally that brought us back in the second half."

The Dutch faced a 44-36 deficit at the half before storming back to take a 68-67 lead with 7:30 remaining after a layup by senior forward Kyle Smith (Grand River, New Hampton HS).

Loras (16-5, 9-3 conference) traded baskets with Central before taking a 77-76 advantage with 3:57 left in the game. The Dutch tied the game at 77 but were outscored 17-8 the rest of the way.

"I'm extremely proud of our effort tonight," said Douma. "Our guys fought through the entire game and kept battling until the end. The difference in the game was they made a few shots at the end of the shot clock and we weren't able to convert on offense."

Senior forward Malik Wildermuth (Normal, Ill., University HS) had 14 points and five rebounds.

"Malik was ready to play tonight," said Douma. "He played great defense on (Josh) Ruggles."

???????Ruggles leads Loras in scoring, averaging over 20 points a game. Wildermuth held Ruggles to five points on 1-of-7 shooting.

???????Loras outrebounded Central 40-35 and outshot the Dutch 51.5 percent to 47.1.

A trip to Dubuque is next for Central for a women's-men's doubleheader with the men beginning at 4 p.m. Central won the first matchup in Pella 96-89 December 2. The Dutch have won three consecutive games against the Spartans.

"Dubuque has played really well as of late," said Douma. "We're going into a hostile environment and our guys are going to have to be ready for a fight."