|
| Colby Taylor scored a
team-high 23 points to help lead Central past the No. 1 Vikings of
Augustana. Central athletics photo by Dan Vander Beek |
Rebuilding year?
Lighting up Kuyper Gym with 16 3-point goals, an inexperienced Central College squad surprised No. 1-rated Augustana (Ill.), 89-78 on Wednesday. The Dutch (3-1), who returned just one starter from last year's Iowa Conference championship club, got a game-high 23 points and seven rebounds from sophomore forward Colby Taylor while guard Nile Eckermann had 18 points and six assists and forward Kyle Newendorp had 15 points and a game-high nine boards.
In the first half, 26 of Central's 33 shots were 3-point tries, but the Dutch knocked down a school-record 11. But they saw a 49-42 halftime lead quickly melt away in the second half as Augustana (5-1) rallied to tie the game at 50-50 with 17:08 left.
The Dutch did not back down, running off seven unanswered points with threes by Taylor and guard Austin Hauser, and led the rest of the way.
"Once you hit a few you think every single one is going in," Eckermann said. "Coach (Craig Douma) said if we have an open look, don't hesitate at all. We're a good 3-point shooting team and we made shots tonight."
Augustana, playing without injured starting guard Jawan Straughter, placed four players in double figures, led by guard Hunter Hill's 20 points. Forward Nic Hoepfner had 17 points and eight rebounds and forward Tayvian Johnson had 16 points with seven boards.
The Vikings led during the early going but Central eventually led by as many as nine (46-37) in the first half before settling for a seven point margin (49-42) at halftime.
Hill nailed a three point field goal with just six seconds remaining before intermission to make it a four point game (46-42) but Eckermann countered with a three point field goal at the buzzer for a the halftime margin.
Early in the second half Augustana used a pair of baskets by junior Ben Ryan, a layup by Hill and a basket by senior Nic Hoepfner to grab a 50-49 lead with 17:23 left in the game. Central responded with an 8-0 run of its own to go back up 57-50. The Dutch never trailed again and continued to respond to any run by the Vikings.
“All great teams are going to make a run,” said Douma. “We told the guys at half that we are going to make runs and they are going to make runs. We just have to sustain it and keep to our game plan.”
However, Rosenstiel hit two free throws at 17:08 to put the hosts in front 51-50 and after an Augustana turnover, Taylor nailed a 3-pointer to make it 54-50 with 16:33 remaining. That sparked a 12-2 run by the Dutch and after Taylor hit two free throws with 13:33 left the margin was nine points (61-52).
“Colby is a tough kid,” said Douma. “He stepped up tonight and made some great plays. Colby is a guy that can go inside-outside and really make things happen.”
After Central got the margin into double digits (65-54) at 10:58, the Vikings managed to trim the lead to just three (65-62) with 8:59 left on a three point field goal by Hill. But the Central defense found a way to get stops down the stretch.
“The last nine minutes of the game our defense was excellent,” said Douma. “It was a three-point game with nine minutes left, and that’s when the separation happened and it happened because of defense. Obviously, we hit some shots, but we did it with defense and we executed offensively.”
Eckermann answered with a 3-pointer of his own at 8:21 and the lead was up to six (68-62). Eventually it would reach 13 twice before the final ended up as an 11 point game (89-78).
The Dutch, who connected on 19 of 23 free throws in the game, made eight straight free throws in the final 1:29 to seal the victory.
The Vikings held a narrow 35-34 edge in rebounding with Ryan and Hoepfner each grabbing eight to tie for the team lead. Augustana shot 44.4 percent (28-for-63) from the field for the game but could connect on only 36.1 percent (13-for-36) in the second half.