The Central College men’s basketball team stunned the American Rivers Conference this past season, claiming the #2 spot on our countdown of the top 10 sports stories during the 2022-2023 school year. 

The Dutch, who finished eighth in the 2021-2022 conference standings and were picked to repeat that finish this past season, well outperformed those marks under first-year head coach Joe Steinkamp. Central opened the first round of conference games by going 7-1 to sit atop the league standings. Central began the second half of conference play by going 1-2, but maintained the top spot in the ARC with a four game winning streak. With those results, Central just needed a win over rival Simpson in the season finale to claim the ARC regular season title, while the Storm also needed a victory in the game to qualify for the conference tournament.

The regular season finale went back and forth with the lead changing hands 14 times, but it was the Storm who led 74-73 with 20 seconds left. With first place in the conference on the line, fifth year senior Kade Terrell sprinted up the floor, took a handoff from senior forward Grant Johnson and drove to the basket, flinging an off-balance shot off the glass and drawing a foul for an outright title-winning and-one with 4 seconds left.          

Central’s 76-74 win over Simpson secured the program’s 18th American Rivers Conference regular season title and first since 2014. The Dutch fell to Loras 79-67 in the semifinals of conference tournament to end the season with a 18-7 overall record and 13-3 league record.