PELLA—Playing on short rest after a week of final exams, the Central College men's basketball team coasted past Faith Baptist Bible College Thursday, 95-52.
           
Despite limited practice time during the week, the Dutch (4-6) shot 50.0 percent from the floor in the first half in bolting to a 54-19 lead at intermission.
           
Coach Craig Douma emptied the bench in the second half as all 16 players saw action and none played more than 20 minutes for the night. Forward Seth Wood (junior, Branson, Mo.) had 12 points and six rebounds to lead in both categories while guards Jaden Moody (junior, Cambridge, Ballard HS) and Shimar Jones (senior, Marshall, Texas) each had 11 points. Guard Jamel McKnight (senior, Austin, Texas, Hendrickson HS) had nine points, five assists and three steals while freshman guard Marcus Ashford Jr. (Paris, Ky.) had a game-high six assists and two steals. Central hit 45.8 percent for the night, including 47.4 percent from 3-point range. The Dutch passed out 23 assists with just nine turnovers.
           
"The first 5 minutes, I thought we were very sluggish," coach Craig Douma said. "We played their pace. But I thought our second group gave us a lift. Shimar (Jones) and Thomas (Spoehr) (freshman, Bennington, Neb.) gave us a spark and got us going. We started forcing some turnovers.
           
"In the second half, we came out with better pace."

Faith Baptist (3-6) was limited to 33.9-percent shooting and made 24 turnovers. But the Eagles had 12 offensive boards and were only outrebounded 44-43.
           
"I'm happy that everybody played," Douma said. "We played 11 guys in the first half and we were able to get some different guys in in the second half. Almost everyone scored and they all had opportunities to score."
           
Central completes its non-conference schedule Tuesday at Bethany Lutheran College (Minn.) at Mankato, Minnesota with a 7 p.m. game. The Vikings carry a 5-5 record into a Saturday contest at Northland College (Wis.). They're 1-3 against American Rivers teams thus far this year, dropping decisions to Nebraska Wesleyan University, Buena Vista University and Luther College but winning at Simpson College. Central holds a 9-2 lead in the teams' all-time series, last meeting Nov. 21, 2015 at Mankato. Freshman guard Cire Mayfield is scoring a team-high 19.7 points a game for Bethany Lutheran.
           
"Bethany Lutheran is a good team," Douma said. "They shoot it well. It's going to be a battle. It will be a good road test for us going into Christmas break. We'll have to be ready to play."