DECORAH—Don't look now but it's a winning streak for the Central College men's basketball team.
           
After dropping 12 of 13 games, the Dutch (6-16 overall, 3-11 American Rivers) have now posted back-to-back road wins, toppling Luther College 70-51 Saturday. The Norse (7-16 overall, 4-11 conference) were 61-53 winners when the teams met at Pella Jan. 15.
           
But coach Craig Douma has continued to see improvement in his refuse-to-quit club and there was more evidence Saturday.
           
"We're playing well," Douma said. "We're playing much better offensively. We rebounded better and we really defended. We're playing great team basketball and it's fun to watch."
           
Sophomore center Joshua Van Gorp (Pella, Pella Christian HS) pumped in 21 points and had six rebounds while forward Caden Mauck (5th-year, Kansas City, Missouri, Blue Springs South HS) had 13 points, seven boards and six assists. Senior guard Kade Terrell (Montrose, Colorado) added 10 points and eight rebounds.
           
"Josh is playing well," Douma said. "He rebounded well and he's doing a lot of good things defensively.
           
"Caden Mauck really carried us offensively in the first half, then in the second half, he found the open man with his passing. He's playing really unselfishly.
           
Central jumped to an early 21-11 lead, but Luther inched ahead 30-29 before the Dutch headed to intermission up 31-30. Central then started the second half with a 12-2 burst and was in command the rest of the day.
           
The Dutch outshot Luther 48.3% to 33.9% and held a 41-34 rebounding advantage
           
"What a resilient team this is," Douma said. "They just keep grinding."        
           
Central closes the regular season with a pair of home games, taking on Buena Vista University Wednesday in a women's-men's twinbill with the men's game starting at approximately 7:30 p.m. at P.H. Kuyper Gym. A video webcast and live stats can be accessed at athletics.central.edu. Buena Vista escaped Wartburg College at home Saturday 94-92 to improve to 13-11 overall and 10-5 in conference play. The Beavers outscored Central at Storm Lake Jan. 12, 86-70.
           
"This will probably be our biggest challenge of the last three weeks," Douma said. "But all we can do is worry about ourselves and the scoreboard will take care of itself.
           
"I give a lot of credit to our players. They believe."