PELLA— After having a four-point lead heading into halftime the Central College men's basketball team lost its season opener against No. 12 ranked St. John's University (Minn.) 78-60.
           
"I was really happy with how we played in the first half on both ends of the floor," said coach Joe Steinkamp. "In the second half St. John's showed their experience and took its defense to another level. We had a chance to build a bigger lead going into halftime, but we were unable to hold on."
           
Joshua Van Gorp (5th-year, Pella, Pella Christian HS) led all scorers with 29 points and earned a double-double with 11 rebounds.
           
"Van Gorp was unbelievable today despite all of the attention he drew," said Steinkamp.
           
Kaleb Brand (5th-year, Mount Vernon) scored six points while also having three assists and added a steal. Taylor Birks (senior, Adel, Van Meter HS) came off the bench and led the team with four assists and added two points in his 20 minutes.
           
As a team, the Dutch shot 40% from the field
           
Grant Uecker (freshman, Urbandale) came off the bench in his first collegiate game and scored 7 points on 3-7 shooting. Owen Schipper (freshman, Waukee) scored two points in his first game playing 31 minutes.
           
"We have a lot of new faces, and a lot of our guys played their first big minutes, and I thought they played pretty well," Steinkamp said. "We know what we want to strive for and build moving forward is a team that can be mature throughout a 40-minute game. I am happy with how our young guys are developing and we still have a lot of good basketball ahead of us."
           
The Dutch return to the court Saturday when they host Augsburg University (Minn.) at 3 p.m. on the P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium.