WAVERLY, Iowa - The Central College Men's Basketball team made Iowa Conference history on Saturday night with their win in the IIAC Tournament Championship Game. The Dutch became the first team to win the tournament title as a No. 5 seed while also becoming the first team to win three road games on their way to the title. Central's Colby Taylor scored a game high 28 points in the 92-80 victory vs. Wartburg.
Central will find out their tournament fate on Monday, February 29 at 11:30 during the NCAA Selection Show. The selection show is available on NCAA.com at:
http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/2016/02/29 .
When the week began, Central was facing an uphill battle to win the IIAC Tournament but that did not slow down the Dutch. The historic week began on Tuesday with a 84-79 win at Loras in which
Pete Walker carried the Dutch with 30 points on 11-16 shooting. The challenge grew even bigger in the semifinals with Dubuque, the defending tournament champion and regular season champion, waiting for the Dutch. Walker once again led the Central scoring attack but it was the defense that was key to the victory as they held UD to 33.9% shooting including 21.7% from beyond the arc. The finals versus Wartburg saw Central leading scorer
Colby Taylor take over the game with 28 points, 17 rebounds, six assists, and three steals.
Central came out quick against Wartburg with an early 8-2 lead after the first two minutes. The Dutch and Knights would exchange buckets for most the next 10 minutes as Central eventually built up a 12 point lead with five minutes left in the first half after a jumper by
Kyle Smith. A late run by Wartburg cut the Central lead to six before halftime at 38-32. Central's Walker and Taylor each finished with 11 first half points while
Jordan Cannon led Wartburg with 10 points at the half.
The second half started with a pair of free throws by Cannon cut the lead to four before Central answered with a 7-0 run to build the lead back to double figures at 45-34. Central once again took a 11 point lead at 62-51 near the midpoint of the second half on a three-pointer by
Trashawn Boyd. Facing a bid deficit, Wartburg stormed back with a 11-3 run backed by five points from
Marc Ellis that made the score 65-62 Central with 6:10 left in the game. Central immediately responded back with a 12-2 stretch over the next two minutes and thirty seconds capped off by a Central steal and layup by Taylor.
The pace picked up over the final four minutes with Central and Wartburg combining for 31 points as the Knights tried to claw back into the game. Central once again had all the answers late as they went on to win 92-80.
Central improves to 19-9 on the season and will be making their second trip to the NCAA Tournament under head coach Craig Douma. Wartburg finishes the year with a 16-11 record.
