PELLA — The Central men's basketball team lost to the Coe College Kohawks 94-92 on Wednesday night, albeit not for lack of effort. It was an absolute thriller that went to double overtime and was neck-and-neck from start to finish.

The Dutch took down the Kohawks in overtime the last time the two teams played back on January 21, and the long-awaited rematch lived up to the expectations and then some. The Dutch found themselves trailing by one point with 17 seconds left when Anthony Gott (sophomore, forward, Davenport, North Scott HS) connected with Owen Schipper (sophomore, forward, Waukee) for a go-ahead three pointer from the top of the key. The celebration was short lived, however, as Coe guard Cooper Nailor came down and responded with a layup in traffic to tie the game with 4.7 seconds left. Having to go the length of the floor, the Dutch were not able to get a good look at a game winner, and the game went to overtime tied 67-67.

Overtime brought more of what we had seen over the course of the game, the two teams going bucket for bucket. As the game came down to the wire, guard Kyle Cason (freshman, Grimes, Dallas Center-Grimes HS) knocked down a three pointer from the wing to put the Dutch up by one with 45 seconds left. Central then got a timely stop and were able to extend the lead to two after Gott split a pair of free throws, but, as they did time and time again, Coe responded. An and-one layup tied the game, followed by a successful free throw that gave the Kohawks the lead with 18 seconds left. With the ball in Central's possession and one last chance, guard Bradley Curren (junior, Harlan) found Schipper on a beautiful entry pass that resulted in a foul on the shot, sending Schipper to the line for two free throws with 2.5 seconds left. After missing the first off the back iron, Schipper sunk the high-pressure second free throw to tie the game, which would soon after head to a second overtime.

By the time the second overtime came around, both teams were in tremendous rhythms offensively, resulting in a lot of buckets. Unfortunately, it was Coe who got the last look, and Nailor was able to connect on a mid-range shot from the right elbow to put the Kohawks up 94-92 with 0.3 seconds left, ultimately winning the game.

Despite the loss, it was a career night for Gott, who put up a career-high 30 points while shooting an efficient 14-23 (60.9%) from the field. Gott also recorded six rebounds, five assists, and a game-high three blocks. Owen Schipper continued to be a double-double machine, recording 12 points and 18 rebounds, while Braylon Thomsen (freshman, guard, Carbon Cliff, Ill., Davenport Assumption [Iowa] HS) added 17 points, three rebounds, and three assists.

Central will have a couple of days to recover before hosting Luther College in the regular season finale on Saturday, February 21! Tip-off is at 4 p.m.