Forty solid minutes of basketball by the Central men’s basketball team on Saturday led them to an 80 – 61 win over Coe, in a doubleheader heard live on 92.1 KRLS.
The Dutch raced out to a 26 – 11 lead, thanks to sharp shooting from inside the arc and terrific defense and rebounding on the other side of the court. Colby Taylor scored 16 of his game-high 28 points in the first half, and finished with 15 rebounds to tally yet another double-double in his historic Central career.
Central also held the Kohawks to just 31% shooting for the game, and less than 14% accuracy from three-point range. Coach Craig Douma says his team’s offense surged due to what they were doing on the other side of the ball.
Kyle Smith also scored 16 points as the Dutch men improve to 11 – 8 overall and 5 – 5 in the Iowa Conference.
Even without star player Claire Marburger, Central’s women held their own, and even held a lead late in the third period, but Coe was able to scrap their way past the Dutch, 71 – 61.
Tied at 47 entering the final quarter, Coe outscored Central, 24 – 14 in the final ten minutes of play, with help of three three-point plays and relentless rebounding on the offensive glass. They out-grabbed Central 31 – 15 in rebounds in the second half, including 16 offensive boards.
Jessica Helton had a career-high 18 points and Emily Dine put in 19 for the Dutch women, who fall to 9 – 10 overall and 2 – 8 in league play.
Both teams are off until the middle of the week when they hit the road to Lincoln to play Nebraska Wesleyan.