The Central men’s basketball team picked up their first win in American Rivers Conference play last night against Simpson College 75-66, as heard live on both 94.3 KNIA and the KRLS2 stream. 

The Dutch tied their season high point total in the game, matching the 75 points scored in a loss to Wartburg back on January 5th. The Dutch outscored Simpson 44-35 in the second half to snap an eight-game losing streak and a four-game losing streak at Simpson. Rebounding has been an ongoing concern for the Dutch, but they were able to out rebound Simpson 42-31, while limiting the Storm to 39.1% shooting. Josh Van Gorp had a strong performance for Central posting a double-double and scoring a game-high 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting and grabbing 12 rebounds.  Head Coach Craig Douma said that it felt good to get their first win in conference play.

The Dutch improved to 4-12 overall on the year and 1-7 in American Rivers Conference play with the win. Central’s men’s basketball game on Saturday against Dubuque has been postponed due to health and safety protocols for the Spartans. The Dutch are set to return to action on Saturday, January 29th when they travel to Cedar Rapids to take on Coe College. The Central women’s basketball team returns to action this Saturday against Dubuque with tip-off at 2 pm.