Trailing for about 39 minutes, the Central men’s basketball team clawed their way back to take down Wartburg in a critical Iowa Conference affair on Saturday, 91 – 86.

The Dutch fell behind by 12 with as little as 9:30 left in the second half, but Central’s defense allowed just four points over the next four minutes to crawl back to within five with about four minutes to go.

With the score in favor of Wartburg, 82 – 78, Kyle Smith hit a pull-up three with 1:28 left to bring the team within one. After trading buckets, Central’s Nick Drucker and Ryan Kunkel took over defensively. Kunkel came up with some key blocks, Drucker gobbled up important rebounds and hit clutch free throws down the stretch to give Central their first lead that they did not relinquish. Coach Craig Douma says it indeed was a few big defensive plays down the stretch, but it was a complete team effort that brought them a much-needed “W.”

Six players finished in double figures for Central; Pete Walker led the charge with 23 points, Kyle Smith had 18, and all 11 of Drucker’s points came in the second half. The win improves Central’s conference mark to 6 – 6, which, coupled with the losses by the Knights and Simpson, catapulted them from seventh to fourth in the league standings with four games to go.

The Dutch women did not have the same success as the men, dropping a 92 – 58 decision to the nationally-ranked Knights. Wartburg had seven players finish with at least ten points, while Central was led by Claire Marburger’s 13 points and seven rebounds. The women fall to 2 – 10 in the league and 9 – 12 overall. Next up for Central is one final trip to Dubuque on Wednesday to take on Loras.