JACKSONVILLE, ILL.— Steady play down the stretch preserved the Central College men's basketball team's first season win, 63-59 over Blackburn College (Ill.) in the Bill Merris Tournament hosted by Illinois College Friday night.
           
The Dutch (1-2) advance to Saturday's 3 p.m. title game against the winner of a Friday contest between Dominican College (Ill.) and host Illinois College. Illinois College took a 2-0 record into Friday night's game while Dominican was 0-1.
           
Sophomore center Joshua Van Gorp (Pella, Pella Christian HS) posted his first double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds along with two blocks for the Dutch.
           
"Josh had a great game," coach Craig Douma said.
           
An early 20-3 run gave Central a 26-10 lead and it was 38-26 at intermission. The lead was as big as 15 in the second half but Blackburn shaved the lead to 59-58 with 1:37 left.
           
"Blackburn put a lot of pressure on us and got us out of our rhythm," Douma said.
           
But a jumper by guard Drew Edwards (junior, Eden Prairie, Minn.) and a pair of free throws by guard Jalen Wilmington (junior, Chicago, Ill., Crete Monee HS) gave Central some breathing room in the final minute.
           
"Jalen Wilmington made a couple of big plays," Douma said. "He had an and-one that was huge for us."
           
Defense was the difference, he said.
           
"We got stop after stop after stop," he said. "Our defense is playing well right now and that's what's keeping us in ballgames."
           
Guard Kade Terrell (senior, Montrose, Colo.) saw his first action of the season and gave the Dutch a big lift, Douma said. The two-time team Hustle Award winner had 12 points and five rebounds in just under 13 minutes of floor time.
           
"Kade really came in and gave us a spark," Douma said. "He was 4-of-6 from the field, he ran the floor hard, made a couple 3-pointers. He was kind of the X-factor of the game."
           
Forward Kole Tupa (sophomore, Center Point, Center Point-Urbana HS) had a game-high 11 rebounds and three assists.
           
Central shot 45.3% from the field and held a commanding 47-32 edge on the glass. But the biggest blemishes on the box score were the team's 24 turnovers.
           
"That's the one area that we need to be better at," Douma said. "We just had some guys do some uncharacteristic things offensively. We've got to figure that out."
           
But Douma is happy to advance.                                                                               
           
"We're in a championship game," he said. "We missed that opportunity when we were here two years ago. So we're excited to get the chance."