DECORAH—Central College rocketed to a 37-15 first-half lead and held off a second-half Luther College comeback to claim an 80-68 men's basketball road victory Wednesday.
           
The Dutch led wire-to-wire in improving to 11-6 overall and 5-3 in American Rivers play. Central (11-6 overall, 5-3 American Rivers) was up 43-24 at intermission but saw Luther pull as close as 66-64 with 5:16 left in the game before the Dutch used a 7-2 burst to calm the waters. Luther dipped to 5-12 overall and 0-8 in the conference.
           
"They made a great second-half run to make it nervous," coach Joe Steinkamp said. "It's never easy in this league on the road and I'm just happy we were able to keep making plays down the stretch. I'm proud of our guys for how they answered the Luther runs in the second half."
           
Despite knocking down just three 3-point buckets in 17 tries, Central rarely misfired inside the arc, connecting on 74.3% of its other shots (19-2). The Dutch shot 58.9% overall. It was a multi-pronged assault with forward Kole Tupa (senior, Center Point, Center Point-Urbana HS) and center Joshua Van Gorp (senior, Pella) each scoring 18 points while guard Kaleb Brand (senior, Mount Vernon) added 17.
           
"We had a really good combination of passing and finishing down there," Steinkamp said. "They doubled Josh (Van Gorp) and (forward) Grant Johnson (5th-year, Waukee, Van Meter HS) so they didn't get their normal post moves but they were able to make the right pass. It was really just a good team performance, especially on the offensive end.
           
"We had three guys in double figures but four more guys with six (points) or more. Pretty much everyone who played, played at a high level. It's always hard to get a win in Decorah. I thought Luther played a really physical game and made us do some stuff that we haven't had to do this year. But our guys really responded and executed when they needed to."
           
Johnson, in his second start after missing five games due to injury, had another productive night despite scoring only seven points, contributing seven rebounds, seven assists and two blocks.
           
"They did a good job of trying to front him and double him so he wasn't able to score as much as he did last game (22 points vs. Dubuque Sunday) but he was able to still fill the stat sheet," Steinkamp said.
           
Others stepped up.
           
"Kaleb Brand had a really good all-around game and had some great defensive plays that fueled his offense," Steinkamp said. "Kole Tupa had some great finishes late in the game. He made a couple of really big plays that helped seal the win. And then I thought (point guard) Drew Edwards (5th-year, Eden Prairie, Minn.) had a great all-around floor game and continued to make the right play."
           
Central returns home to meet Wartburg College Saturday in a women's-men's doubleheader with the men's game starting at 4 p.m. at P.H. Kuyper Gym. Wartburg is 3-14 overall and 2-6 in the conference after getting bounced 82-50 at home against Coe College Wednesday. The Dutch rolled past Wartburg 81-49 at Waverly Dec. 2. Saturday's games will be broadcast on KRLS-FM (92.1) with Tyler Crabb calling the action. A video webcast and live stats can be accessed through the Central athletics website at athletics.central.edu and the audio broadcast will be available at kniakrls.com.
           
"We're getting healthy, I think, and peaking at the right time," Steinkamp said. "Wartburg is always kind of a rivalry game and we're excited to play in front of our students again and keep it going."