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The Pella boys basketball team fell two points shy of beating Newton by 40 points for the second time this season, as the Dutch prevailed over the Cardinals 78-40 last night in Pella. The Dutch jumped out to an early double-digit lead, but a foul-heavy first half slowed down the tempo and allowed Newton to get within five points in the second quarter. Pella Head Coach Mark Core says what happened next likely changed the course of the game.

“We were in real danger coming down the stretch in the second quarter,” said Core. “Coming out of a timeout – which ironically they called – Josh Pringle made a fantastic defensive play…got the steal, and took it down for the lay-up. That was a huge momentum change. If they would have gotten what they would have needed out of that timeout and made a bucket, things could have been a lot different, but Josh makes the great play, shoots the lay-up and we’re on our way.”

Pella would close the first half on a 10-1 run and never looked back from there, churning out 43 points in the final two quarters. In another balanced offensive night for the Dutch, Nathan Buchheit led the way with 14 points, while Kyle Newendorp came off the bench to add 7 points and a game-high eight rebounds – a staggering six of them on the offensive end alone. Pella’s victory moves the Dutch to 8-2 overall and 7-1 in the conference, with a non-conference game on the schedule at home today with A-D-M at 1:00 p.m.

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