PELLA— After a slow start, the Central College men's basketball was forced to play from behind again but were able to complete the comeback in an 89-79 overtime victory against Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) Saturday night.
           
The Dutch (2-4) trailed by as much as 18 with 14:11 remaining in the second half. The Gusties (1-3) lead was trimmed to 10 by the seven-minute mark and a Caden Mauck (junior, forward, Kansas City, Mo., Blue Springs South HS) jumper at the 1:40 mark tied the score for the first time since five minutes into the game.
           
"We played so poor offensively in the first half with 12 turnovers," coach Craig Douma said. "They're a big team and we didn't handle their physicality well in the first half. We scored the ball better down the stretch and held them to 27 points in the second half. Our transition defense was just so much better."
           
Gustavus answered and retook the lead 77-75. Mauck hoisted a 3-pointer from the corner and missed but forward Keaton Rodgers (freshman, Peoria, Ariz., Sandra Day O'Connor HS) got the rebound and the putback to knot the score at 77-77 and ultimately send it to overtime.
           
Central outscored the Gusties 12-2 in overtime led by six from Jaden Moody (senior, Cambridge, Ballard HS). Moody had 28 total, with 17 coming in the second half.
           
"He couldn't find his rhythm for the first 30 minutes," Douma said. "He finally figured out where his niche was and took advantage of mismatches. We gave him a couple of isolations and he finished at the rim."e He f
      
Mauck registered a double-double with 18 points and 16 rebounds on the heels of a frustrating outing against Loras on Tuesday.

"He didn't play as well as he would have liked against Loras," Douma said. "He stepped up and hit foul shots and got every defensive rebound."
           
Guard Adam Flinn (junior, Wildwood, Mo., Lafayette HS) had 17 points, five assists and three steals.
           
Central is back to American Rivers Conference play Wednesday night against Wartburg College (3-3, 0-0 conference) at 7:30 p.m. It will be the conference opener for the Knights.