The Central men’s basketball team won an outright American Rivers Conference title Saturday with a 76-74 win over Simpson, while the Storm women won 80-65, their 43rd straight victory in the rivalry.

The Central men used a 10-0 with 12:48 left in the first half to take a lead they would seldom look back from after neither team took control in the first several minutes, and held Simpson to just 33% shooting from the field to take a 40-37 lead at the half. The defense held firm for both teams in the second half, with 14 lead changed in the game and 8 ties, but it was a clutch block in the closing minute by Kaleb Brand and an ensuing three from Kade Terrell that would push the Dutch ahead for good to secure the ARC title.

Hear the call for Brand’s block and Terrell’s three below:

Going from eighth to first in the conference, Central rookie head coach Joe Steinkamp knew he had a special group and was overjoyed to see that hard work pay off.

“We did know early on once we started practicing that we had something special with these guys. Just the way they competed, the way they defended, the way they kind of bought into the system. We knew we had a really good group of guys. And then kind of just throughout the year, we just kept growing offensively and kind of finding new ways to score throughout the year. And then all along the way we’ve had that outstanding defensive effort. So, it’s just a special moment here for our guys. I really am a little bit speechless, but just really proud of our fight and our toughness.”

Terrell had 22 points to lead the Dutch, who await their opponent in the conference tournament on Thursday. The Storm needed a win and some help to make the conference tournament, and their season comes to a close. Andrew Gibb had 15.

The Storm women put on a clinic in the first half, leading 23-13 after the first, and using a 12-2 run where they converted layups after six steals on seven possessions to outscore the Dutch 26-10 in the second quarter. Central outscored Simpson in the third and fourth quarters to cut the lead down, but it was not enough. Storm assistant coach Claire Johnson said after the game the squad has bought in, and performances like they had in the second quarter shows them of their potential if they can put that together for a full game.

Cassie Nash had 20 points to lead Simpson, and with her six steals she ties Dana Johnson’s single season record of 91 takeaways set during the 2005-06 campaign. Simpson earns the third seed in the conference tournament, and hosts Dubuque on Tuesday.

Allison Van Gorp led Central with 22 points and 12 rebounds, as the Dutch season comes to a close.