LINCOLN, NEB. — A night that had a bright beginning quickly turned into darkness Saturday as the No. 6 seed Central College men's basketball team was defeated by No. 1 seed Nebraska Wesleyan University 82-78 in the Iowa Conference tournament championship in Lincoln, Neb.

With the win, Nebraska Wesleyan earns the Iowa Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III national tournament.

Central (12-16) held a 38-35 halftime lead and saw that lead balloon to 63-45 points with 10:54 left in the game before Nebraska Wesleyan (24-3) finished the game on a 37-15 run.

"I thought we played a little tentative towards the end tonight and I thought we had somethings that just didn't go our way," said coach Craig Douma.

Senior forward Malik Wildermuth (Normal, Ill., University HS) had 23 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Wildermuth holds Central's record for most steals in a game (8) and is tied for seventh all-time with 43 steals in a season.

"Malik left it all out on the floor tonight," said Douma. "He played a great game offensively and defensively. It's been a joy having Malik in the program and he's going to be a guy that we miss."

Fellow senior Kyle Smith (Grand River, New Hampton HS) had 10 points and two rebounds. Smith ends his career with 1,353 points, ranking him sixth in Central history and he is Central's all-time leader in 3-pointers with 79 (season), 256 (career) and 698 attempts in his career.

"It's been great to watch Kyle grow over his four years here," said Douma. "He's a huge part of why we were playing tonight. His play throughout the tournament has been great and I couldn't ask anything more from him. He's been a great leader for us this year."

Central received a boost off the bench from senior forward Andre Johnson (Alief, Texas, Hastings HS) with 10 points, including a pair of treys.

"Andre gave us a spark tonight with his 10 points and he hit back-to-back 3s in the first half that were big for us," said Douma. "Andre is a guy that has had a few different guys in front of him over his career here but he never gave up and is a great teammate. He kept working and really provided us with some great minutes this year."

Senior guard Nick Drucker (Grimes, Dallas Center-Grimes HS) had nine points and four rebounds.  

"Nick had a Drucker game tonight, that's the best way to put it," said Douma. "He does so many different things that don't show up in the stat sheet. He's an energy guy and a guy that we're going to miss."

Fellow senior Jacob Hay (Stanwood, North Cedar HS) had six points, two assists and a rebound.

"Jacob epitomizes what our team is about," said Douma. "He's one of the most selfless guys we have and everyday he comes in ready to work and his teammates know that he's prepared and they can rely on him. It's been a pleasure to coach Jacob."

Central outshot Nebraska Wesleyan 46.6 percent to 43.3 but were outrebounded 37-36.

"I thought our guys did a great job of being prepared for the game tonight," said Douma. "We rebounded the ball well but gave up too many rebounds in the second half (22)."  

The Dutch bid farewell to seven seniors, Wildermuth, Smith, Johnson, Drucker, Hay, Luke Posivio (Iowa City) and Connor Hehli (New Sharon, North Mahaska HS). The class combined for 62 wins and played in three league tournament championship games during their four years.

"The accomplishments this group has made over the last four years has been great," said Douma. "It's a testament to the men that they are. We talk about being servant leaders all the time in our program and Luke and Connor are two of the most selfless guys we have. Both of them are team-oriented and are always looking out for what's best for the team."

Although the team loses an experienced group of seniors, Douma is excited about the future of Dutch basketball.

"We're losing a lot of experience from this year's team but we were able to get a lot of younger players experience this year," he said. "We are going to be a young team but those younger players have played in this championship atmosphere and I know that group is going to be hungry to get back to here. Our program has been able to play for the league tournament championship four of the last five years and that's something we will continue to build towards."