SUPERIOR, WIS.—An airtight defense is likely to be the Central College men's basketball team's calling card this year and it almost yielded a big second-half comeback victory in the Merrill Thompson Classic Friday.
But the tourney host University of Wisconsin-Superior (2-0), which saw a 10-point lead vanish in the closing minutes, held off the Dutch 63-57 Friday. The Yellowjackets advance to Saturday's title game against the traditional NCAA Division III power University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
Central (0-2) will face Lawrence University (Wis.) (0-2) in the tourney consolation game Saturday at 1 p.m. Lawrence threw a scare into Wisconsin-Platteville before dropping a 82-71 decision in the tourney opener earlier Friday evening.
Down 29-26 at halftime, the Dutch opened the second half with a 5-0 burst for a brief 31-29 lead before finding themselves trailing 52-42 with 10:05 left. But a 15-5 Central run, capped by back-to-back 3-pointers from guards
Kade Terrell (5th-year, Montrose, Colo.) and
Kaleb Brand (junior, Mount Vernon), tied it 57-57. A challenging jumper with 15 seconds left put Wisconsin-Superior back up 59-57 and the Dutch saw a potential game-tying shot blocked, forcing them to foul in the waning seconds.
"We showed a lot of resiliency," coach
Joe Steinkamp said. "But the kid made a tough turnaround shot against us and then we weren't able to finish. But it was good to see us make some clutch shots to get back in it."
Central dominated the glass, 36-26, as center
Joshua Van Gorp (junior, Pella, Pella Christian HS) had 13 rebounds. The Dutch shot a reasonable 44.9% from the field, including 36.0% from 3-point range. But they committed an overly generous 24 turnovers.
"We rebounded well, we shot well but we gifted them too many possessions," Steinkamp said, noting that the Yellowjackets held a huge 32-6 advantage in points off turnovers.
Brand led Central with 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
"Kaleb had a good all-around game," Steinkamp said. "He's playing with a lot of confidence. When you get someone off the bench in double figures, it's always big."
Terrell finished with 11 points while forward
Grant Johnson (senior, Van Meter) had 10 with eight rebounds. Wis.-Superior collapsed its defense around Van Gorp, who was limited to four shots and finished with six points.
With less than 16 hours between Friday's and Saturday's games, Central's endurance will be tested.
"We can't hang our heads," Steinkamp said. "We'll have a quick shootaround in the morning and get ready to play."
