PELLA — The Central College men's basketball team decided to have its own three-point storm Wednesday night in a 93-87 victory over Simpson College at P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium.

The Dutch connected on 14-of-31 3-pointers, including 10 in the first half to lead 49-45 at the break.

"We shot the ball really well from three tonight," said coach Craig Douma. "We were able to get good looks and I really like what our offense is doing right now."

Central's big three, senior forwards Kyle Smith (24) (Grand River, New Hampton HS), Malik Wildermuth(23) (Normal, Ill., University HS) and sophomore forward Seth Wood (19) (Branson, Mo.) combined for 66 points and drilled 13 of the team's 3-pointers.

"Those three guys were huge for us tonight," said Douma. "Kyle came out and had a great game. He took what the defense gave him and attacked when he needed to. Malik did a great job attacking and then hit five threes. Tonight was Seth's best game since Christmas break. He did a great job on both ends of the floor."

Smith grabbed nine rebounds, Wood corralled eight and Wildermuth had seven to help the Dutch win the battle on the glass 44-40.

"We challenged our guys to rebound tonight and they responded," said Douma. "We knew we had to control the boards and we were able to get contributions from everyone tonight."

Central's starting point guard Jamel McKnight (Austin, Texas, Hendrickson HS) finished with seven points, seven assists and four rebounds.

"Jamel did a great job tonight finding guys and was able to get to the rim," said Douma.

Senior center Luke Posivio (Iowa City) provided relief for freshman forward Caden Mauck (Lee's Summit, Mo., Blue Springs South HS) after the freshman was in foul trouble. Posivio finished with six points, five rebounds and a block.

"Luke did a great job tonight," said Douma. "He came in and gave us big minutes. He battled on the glass and kept possessions alive for us."

Halfway through Iowa Conference play, Central improved to 4-4 in league play and 7-10 overall while Simpson dropped to 5-3 in conference play and 9-7 overall.

Central outshot Simpson 51.6 percent to 40.3 and shot 81.3 percent from the charity stripe compared to the Storm's 58.1.

The Dutch continue league play Saturday with a women's-men's doubleheader in Cedar Rapids against Coe College with the men beginning at 4 p.m. Central won the first matchup between the two teams after a Wildermuth buzzer-beating basket January 13 at P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium. The Kohawks enter the contest riding a four-game losing streak.