Gambell, Rogers spark Central women's basketball tourney comeback; Flinn bucket is a Central men's basketball OT tournament winner

Posted By: Jon Mohwinkle
March 10, 2021 @ 5:52 am
Today’s Local Sports

It took 20 years and a gritty fourth-quarter comeback but the Central College women’s basketball team overcame the University of Dubuque for a 57-48 American Rivers Conference tournament victory, as aired on KRLS3. It was Central’s first tourney win since 2001, behind 17 points from guard Maci Gambell and a career-high 18 rebounds from forward Payton Rogers.

But Central’s tourney run was looking like a short one for much of the night as the Dutch offense was stymied. Central shot an icy 18.2% from the field in the first quarter and finished at 21.6% for the night. But Dubuque (6-7) was kept under wraps as well in the physical contest, hitting just 25.0% from the floor.

Central trailed 27-22 at intermission and 40-35 after three periods but outscored the Spartans 22-8 in the last quarter. Head Coach Joe Steinkamp says his team kept fighting and was resilient.

Guard Emily Hay had 11 points, eight rebounds and six steals while guard Carson Fisk had 10 points and seven rebounds. Forward Sami Craig had five steals.

The 6-3 Dutch, the fourth seed, advance to a 7 p.m. Thursday semifinal at 10-0 Simpson College, the top seed, which thrashed Luther College at Indianola, 94-58 Tuesday night. Simpson, which is ranked No. 7 in the D3hoops.com poll, outscored Central 77-61 at Pella Feb. 3.

There was no need for a timeout for the Central College men’s basketball team in the closing seconds of overtime at Loras College Tuesday night. Dutch guard Adam Flinn, who had already topped 1,000 career points earlier in the second half, drove the ball to the hoop and delivered two more with just two seconds remaining. That gave sixth-seeded Central a remarkable 97-95 overtime upset of the third-seeded Duhawks in the first round of the American Rivers Conference tournament.

The win sends Central at just 3-3, into a 7 p.m. Thursday tournament semifinal at Storm Lake against second-seeded Buena Vista University. The 8-2 Beavers rocked Wartburg College at home Tuesday, 96-70. BV rolled past Central 97-67 at Pella last Saturday.

Tuesday Flinn became the 30th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark and finished with 21 for the night, giving him 1,007 for his career. Meanwhile his fellow Missouri classmate, forward Caden Mauck (senior, Kansas City, Mo., Blue Springs South HS), posted his 15th career double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Guard Sam Beatty (sophomore, Mount Pleasant) also had 17 points while forward Kole Tupa had 14. Guard Drake Johnson came off the bench to score 11 points and grab five rebounds.

Central outrebounded Loras (7-5) 35-33 and held a 54.5%-45.9% shooting advantage.

Central bolted to a surprising 47-37 halftime lead and was up by as many as 14 points. But Loras regained the lead in the second half and was on top 89-86 in the final minute of regulation before Flinn connected on a critical game-tying and-one with 36 seconds remaining. Loras turned the ball over in the closing seconds and Flinn missed an off-balance 3-point try as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime.

The Dutch, still playing without two injured starters, endured two health-related shutdowns during the abbreviated season.