DECORAH—A last-second opportunity went awry and the Central College men's basketball team dropped a 64-62 decision at Luther College Wednesday night.
           
The Dutch (4-9 overall 1-3 American Rivers) led much of the way but a late scoring drought was the difference as Central saw a 50-43 lead turn into a 60-54 deficit with 1:41 to play on a 17-4 spurt.
           
"We broke down defensively a couple times," coach Craig Douma said. "And they hit four 3-pointers in that stretch."
           
After clawing their way back to within two, the Dutch took possession following a Luther missed free throw with 5 seconds remaining. Guard Adam Flinn (junior, St. Louis, Mo., Lafayette HS) took it to the rim but was whistled for a charge on his potential game-tying shot attempt as time expired. It ended a 13-game Central win streak against the Norse.
           
"Down the stretch we executed very well," Douma said. "We gave ourselves a chance to win. That's Adam's kind of play. He had a good look at a layup."
           
Flinn finished with 19 points and eight rebounds while forward Caden Mauck (junior, Kansas City, Mo., Blue Springs South HS) had 13 points and eight boards and guard Sean Kostyk (junior, Cape Coral, Fla., Mariner HS) also had 13 points. Guards Kade Terrell (sophomore, Olathe, Colo., Montrose HS) and Drake Johnson (freshman, Stanton) each had seven rebounds.
           
Central held a 24-22 halftime lead despite shooting just 26.7% in the first half.
           
"I really thought we lost the game in the first half," Douma said. "Other than (the 17-4 run), we played good defense all night. We just didn't finish very well. We had some sloppy turnovers. Our turnover number (11) wasn't that high but we had some unforced turnovers. We just weren't sharp with the ball."
           
For the night Luther outshot the Dutch 37.9% to 35.1% and outrebounded them 41-38.
           
The Dutch travel to Indianola Saturday for a women's-men's doubleheader at Simpson College, with the men's game tipping off at 7:30 p.m. Simpson is 7-6 overall and 1-3 in the league after getting overwhelmed at No. 10 Nebraska Wesleyan University 86-64 Wednesday night.
           
"Simpson is well-coached," Douma said. "They'll be ready to go. They're like us. They're searching for a conference win. We've got to bounce back."
           
Saturday's game will be broadcast on KRLS-FM (92.1) via kniakrls.com with Jon Mohwinkle calling the action.