Central men's basketball team pulls away from Luther in the second half

The Dutch earn the 4 seed in the A-R-C tournament

by Peter Leithauser

Decorah, IA (02/24/2025) — A 47-point second half powered the Central College men's basketball team to a victory at Luther College Saturday.

After a slow start, in which Central shot 38.5% from the field and 21% from three-point range, Luther took a seven-point lead into halftime. Central responded after the break by going on a 10-0 run early in the half before shooting 53.8% from the field, 10-18 from three while holding Luther to 44% from the field.

"We did a nice job of sharing the ball and limiting our turnovers on offense," coach Joe Steinkamp said. "Our ball pressure in the second half was excellent and we were able to take Luther out of its offensive sets."

The Dutch totaled 26 bench points being led by Grant Uecker (freshman, Urbandale) who scored 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, 5-of-7 from three, while also dishing out four assists and bringing in four rebounds.

"Uecker was excellent today in the zone, he made some nice passes and caught fire from behind the arc in the second half."

Kaleb Brand (5th-year, Mount Vernon) scored 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and adding two assists. Karson Wehde added 12 points and three assists.

"Brand was excellent as well and did a great job of taking what the defense gave him," Steinkamp said.

Joshua Van Gorp (5th-year, Pella, Pella Christian HS) and Owen Schipper (freshman, Waukee) both scored nine points. Van Gorp added eight rebounds and three assists, Schipper contributed five rebounds and four assists.

For the game Central shot 46.2% from the field and 40.6% from three compared to Luther which shot 44.2% from the field and 44% from three. The Dutch outscored Luther 22-14 in the paint and held the Norse to only six second chance points and 0 fast break points.

"Assistant coach Conor Riordan did a nice job preparing our team for Luther's sets," said Steinkamp. "It made a difference knowing what [Luther] was going to do late."

With this win the Dutch finish their regular season 14-11 and 9-7 in American Rivers play to secure fourth place in the conference. The Dutch will host Coe College in the first round of the conference tournament Tuesday at 7 p.m. in P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium.

"We are excited to have a home game in the tournament and play in front of the best crowd in the A-R-C," Steinkamp said.

Joshua

Van Gorp