Avenging a loss from a year ago in Waverly, the Wartburg men’s basketball team entered a loud and rowdy P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium and took down a beaten up Central squad to win the Iowa Conference tournament championship on Saturday, 89 – 85, in a game heard live on KNIA.
Both teams exchanged early-game runs, but it was Central that raced out to a 14-point first half lead, and entered the locker room up 43 – 34.
The Dutch again built a 14-point lead in the second half, but poor shooting from outside the arc let the Knights creep back in late. Wartburg hit clutch free throws down the stretch to seal the victory; they went 15-for-16 from the free throw line for the game.
Central lost despite turning the ball over a season-low three times and getting 19 points and eight rebounds from a less-than-100-percent Colby Taylor, who was playing with an injured ankle all game long. Pete Walker scored a game-high 28 points and had eight rebounds, and Ryan Kunkel finished with 13 rebounds and four blocks.
Central finishes the 2016-17 season with a 16 – 12 record and is not expected to earn an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III national tournament, whose field will be announced on Monday. Wartburg’s win allowed them to take home the automatic berth into the field of 62.