Limiting the Kohawks to just 26 points in the final 20 minutes, the Central men’s basketball team capped off a busy and tiring schedule of games with a 77 – 67 victory over Coe on Saturday, in a doubleheader heard live on 92.1 KRLS.
Coe raced out to a 13-point lead, and led by four at the break on the heels of 61% shooting from the field. Central stymied the Kohawk offense in the second half, forcing them to go 9-of-25 on field goals. Kyle Smith had the hot hand for the Dutch, leading the way with 26 points, and Jamel McKnight scored all 11 of his points at critical times in the second half.
Central improves to 8 – 10 overall, and are now 5 – 4 in Iowa Conference contests.
Central’s women erased a 14-point halftime deficit in the third quarter, but saw Coe swarm back to a 70 – 53 win. Down 42 – 28, the Dutch opened the third on a 14 – 0 run in the first five minutes, before the Kohawks went on a quick 9 – 0 run of their own. Coe’s defense proved to be too much, as they held Central to just eight fourth quarter points.
Jackie Kriegel had another statistical double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds for Central, and Jess Helton had a team-high 13 points in the loss. The Dutch ladies now own a 7 – 11 record with a 2 – 7 mark in the league. After having played four games in eight days, the Dutch will enjoy the week off before returning home to P.H. Kuyper next Saturday to host Buena Vista.