DECORAH—Conference road wins are precious.
           
Winless in American Rivers play, Luther College (3-12 overall, 0-7 conference) nonetheless nearly forced overtime Saturday but the Central College men's basketball team got another 26 points from high-efficiency center Joshua Van Gorp (junior, Pella, Pella Christian HS) and a clutch game-winning play from point guard Drew Edwards (senior, Eden Prairie, Minn.) to escape with a 62-60 road victory.
           
That leaves the Dutch in first place at 6-1, with an 11-4 overall mark. Coach Joe Steinkamp was glad to get out of town with a victory.
           
"The parity in this league is crazy," he said. "Luther did a good job of defending us. They're really physical and were really getting into our guys and they made some tough shots. It was a good back and forth game."
           
Central trailed by as many as six points in the first half and was down 27-23 at halftime.
           
"We didn't have any offensive rebounds in the first half," Steinkamp said. "Josh (Van Gorp) was able to get his (points) but the other guys weren't able to knock down shots, although they were taking good shots. I thought we played a little bit too slow in the first half."
           
But the Dutch pushed the pace in the second half and with 6:32 left finally inched on top 46-45. A jumper by Edwards seemed to put Central in command, 58-49 with 2:02 remaining. But Luther tied the game 60-60 with less than 10 seconds left before Edwards raced downcourt with the winning layup on a pinpoint outlet pass from guard Kade Terrell (5th-year, Montrose, Colo.). Luther did get a shot at the buzzer that hesitated at the rim before failing to connect.
           
"That was a great play by Kade," Steinkamp said. "We like to attack in those situations and not necessarily call timeout right away to see if we can get something easy in transition and he made an unbelievable pass to Drew Edwards. And Drew was able to catch and finish it. It was a great play by two seniors, really staying poised, knowing the clock and knowing the situation."
           
Van Gorp, who entered the game second in the NCAA Division III in field goal percentage (71.2), hit 12 of 15 shots.
           
"Josh Van Gorp was awesome all night long," Steinkamp said. "He scored in a variety of ways. They started double-teaming and then the other guys were able to get going."
           
Forward Grant Johnson (senior, Waukee, Van Meter HS) had his third consecutive double-double with 12 points 10 rebounds while Edwards finished with 11 points and three assists.
           
"Drew Edwards did a really good job of making late shot clock plays," Steinkamp said. "It seemed like all of his shots were really big shots. That was the first game-winner of his career so it was fun for him to have that moment."
           
Central outshot Luther 49.1% to 37.5% and outrebounded the Norse 36-35.
           
Central takes on Simpson College Wednesday in a women's-men's doubleheader, completing the first half of the conference season. The men's contest tips off at 8 p.m. at P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium. Like Central, Simpson has been a surprise, posting an 11-4 overall mark with a 4-3 conference record after stumbling 86-74 against the University of Dubuque at home Saturday.