PELLA—A late scoring drought doomed the Central College men's basketball team's bid for its first American Rivers Conference win as it tumbled to Luther College 61-53 Saturday.
           
A Joshua Van Gorp (sophomore, Pella, Pella Christian HS) putback with 7:21 left pulled the Dutch within 48-46, but they managed only a free throw in the next 5:36 as Luther (5-9 overall, 2-4 conference) pulled away for the win.
           
"You hold a team to 61 points, you should win," coach Craig Douma said. "That's the bottom line. But if you only score 53, that's not good enough. You're not going to win games scoring 53."
           
Senior guard Kade Terrell (Montrose, Colo.) had 13 points for the Dutch and forward  Sam Beatty (junior, Mount Pleasant) had some success attacking the rim and added 12. But the Dutch were outshot 41.2% to 39.3% and hit just 30.0% from 3-point range. Central (3-12 overall, 0-7 conference) was outrebounded 39-31.
           
Guard Drew Edwards (junior, Eden Prairie, Minn.) had a good floor game with a game-high 11 rebounds and five assists.
           
"Drew Edwards is a tough kid," Douma said. "He wants to win and he's going to do whatever it takes to try to get this team a W. He's hard-nosed, he makes plays and gives the effort to attack the boards and rebound."
           
Central is at Indianola Wednesday to take on Simpson College in an 8 p.m. game. Simpson is 4-9 overall and 1-3 in the league heading into a game at the University of Dubuque Saturday evening.