News Release

PELLA, Iowa — Center Clint Driftmier posted his second double-double in three outings as the Central College men’s basketball team cracked the win column with an 86-72 defeat of Bethany Lutheran (Minn.) Tuesday.

Driftmier had 18 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots for the Dutch (1-2). Guard Brett DeHoogh had a game-high 23 points, his season best, with six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Forward Taylor Phipps had 16 points while guard Chris Nelson had 13 points and four assists, and guard Zak Clark had six points, five rebounds, a game-high five assists and four steals. Bethany Lutheran (1-2) got 22 points and six rebounds from Ross Libby.

Coach Mike Boschee liked Driftmier’s rebounding.

“Clint needs to be a force on the glass for us,” Boschee said. “He’s the one guy who can clear them in traffic.”

Boschee also saw improvement from DeHoogh.

“Brett just played a solid all-around game,” he said. “We got on him about defense the last couple days and I think he responded to that. If he can play a complete game for us, we’ve found a pretty good point guard.”

The Dutch stretched a 40-31 halftime lead to 51-36 in the first 3 minutes of the second half and were up by as many as 18.

“We started attacking them,” Boschee said. “We knew they were going to pressure us the whole game. We had a lead at halftime but we didn’t want to be satisfied with that. It started with defense. Defense got us the lead and defensive intensity built that lead in the second half.”

Central was outrebounded 51-39, but shot 44.8 percent from the floor to Bethany Lutheran’s 36.6 percent.

The Dutch are still without forward Keith Pedersen, who suffered an injury in the opening seconds of the team’s first game Nov. 18. Boschee hopes he can return for Central’s next outing, the Iowa Conference opener at defending champion Buena Vista next Tuesday, Nov. 29.