Central College Basketball Teams Split with Loras Saturday Afternoon
The Central College men’s basketball team rolled to their seventh straight victory with a 90-65 decision over a ranked Loras squad Saturday, while a few quick flurries were the difference in the Dutch women’s team 74-61 loss against the ranked Duhawks and both games were broadcast live on 92.1 KRLS.
The Central men exploded for a 53-point second half against the D3hoops.com #20 ranked Duhawks and broke the game open in front of a noisy P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium crowd. It was another big day for All-American center Joshua Van Gorp, who put up 28 points along with 13 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season. Contributions came from everywhere as Kaleb Brand was 9-of-9 from the free throw line and had a pair of dunks en route to a 20-point game, Kole Tupa added 14 points with seven rebounds and six assists and point guard Drew Edwards flirted with a triple-double with 11 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. The Dutch shot 53.7% from the field and were nearly as accurate from 3-point range, hitting 47.8% of the shots beyond the arc, while limiting the Duhawks to 35.6% from the field and 23.5% from 3-point range.
Loras, rated No. 19 in the D3hoops.com Top 25, scored the game’s first seven points and built an early 20-8 lead. An 11-2 Central run cut the gap to 22-19 in the first 5 minutes of the second quarter, but Loras responded with a 12-2 spurt for a 33-21 halftime lead. The Dutch (10-12 overall, 4-9 conference) drew no closer than six the rest of the way. Guard Abby Johnson had a game-high 14 points and five rebounds while center Allison Van Gorp had 10 points and six boards. Guard Emily Naughton had four assists. The Dutch were outshot 42.6% to 33.3% while the rebounds were even at 40-40. But Central committed 19 turnovers and shot just 24.0% (6-25) from 3-point range.
The Central basketball teams are off until next Saturday when they travel to the University of Dubuque for a conference women’s-men’s doubleheader starting at 2 p.m.
Huge Weekend for Hughes, Dutch Women’s Wrestling Team
The Central College women’s wrestling team got its first taste of team scoring at the Quad Cities Division III Invitational Friday and Saturday.
Central finished 16th in the 23-team field with 19 team points. The program’s first four tournaments did not tabulate team scores. After losing her opening to the eventual bracket champion, Esther Hughes was responsible for 16 of Central’s team points after she rattled off two pins and a technical fall on the consolation side of the 143-pound bracket. She earned a sixth-place finish. In the 235-pound weight class, Central had a pair of wrestlers in the five-woman round robin. Asia Young went 2-2 to finish in third place. Selena Snell was 1-3 as the fifth-place finisher, but defeated the runner-up Kate Riege of Wis.-Stevens Point 2-1 in her final match. Jenna Hernandez added an eighth-place finish at 109 pounds.
Central starts the postseason in two weeks with a trip to the National Collegiate Wrestling Championships Regional 5 hosted by Simpson College in Indianola on February 23rd and 24th.
Five Winners for Dutch Track and Field Squad at Wartburg
The Central College women’s and men’s indoor track and field squads combined to win five events Saturday at the Wartburg Indoor Select.
In the team standings, Central’s women were second of 10 teams, while the Dutch men were fifth out of eight teams. The Dutch contingent Saturday did not include most of Central’s multi-event athletes or high jumpers, two areas of strength for the rosters.
The Dutch women picked up four individual titles. Amber Vroman had the winning pole vault clearance of 10 feet, 6 inches. Caroline McMartin won the mile in four minutes, 54.22 seconds. Abbi Roerdink had the winning 400-meter dash time of 58.26 and Mary Gustason took the 60-meter dash title in 8.13 seconds. Caroline McMartin started the parade of Dutch women at the front of the mile. Megan Johnson was second (4:55.95) and Peyton Steffen was third (5:06.28). Emily McMartin was a second-place finisher in the 200-meter dash in 25.96 seconds. She also had the top time in the 60-meter dash prelims (7.93 seconds) but did not run the final due to being entered in other events.
Kale Purcell had the Dutch men’s only individual title, setting a new career-best mark of 46-8.75 in the triple jump. He also took third in the long jump with a leap of 21-3.5. Central’s men had a pair of top-three finishes in the 60-meter hurdles from Grant Miller and Connor Miklos. Miller was second in 8.31 and Miklos was third in 8.37.
Most of the Dutch roster is headed to the Darren Young Classic hosted by Grinnell College on Saturday. Some of Central’s top distance runners are headed to the David Hemery Valentine Invitational hosted by Boston University next Friday and Saturday.