PELLA, Iowa – The Luther College men's basketball team hit a bit of a snag in its pursuit of an American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) playoff berth. The Norse went into Pella, Iowa with an upset on their minds, as they were set to take on the top-ranked team in the conference, Central College. Sadly, an upset wasn't in the cards for Luther, as the team suffered an 81-54 defeat. With the loss, the Norse are now 8-15 overall and 5-10 in A-R-C play.

BY THE NUMBERS
Luther faced a tall task if it wanted to take down Central Saturday afternoon. For the first five minutes, it seemed like the Norse were up for said task. While Luther never led early in the first half, the team was able to keep pace with its hosts, twice whittling leads to a single possession or one point. Strong defensive play also kept the deficit manageable, as the Dutch never led by more than eight points in the opening 10 minutes of the game. After Central jumped out to a 10-2 lead, the Norse cut the lead to 10-7 quickly, as a layup by Tim Mewborn (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Widefield) ignited a five point run, capped off by a three from Cole Peters (Mazeppa, Minn. / Zumbrota-Mazeppa).

The first half, though, was a series of runs, first by the Dutch, then the Norse, as the two teams never truly found consistency on offense. After Luther closed the gap, Central went on a run of its own, extending its lead to a seemingly comfortable 11 points at 21-10. The Norse answered by whittling the Dutch lead to five points, as a basket from Andrew Lazinbat (San Antonio, Texas / Brandies) made it 23-18 Central with 5:56 to play. And so the game went until the first half buzzer sounded with the Dutch leading 35-27. 

Unfortunately for Luther, the second half was much of the same, only this time around, the Norse couldn't produce as many runs as Central. Though Luther managed to keep it close early in the second half, the Dutch offense was simply overpowering, as the home team continued to tack on the points, scoring both in the paint and beyond the arc. The Norse cut the lead to single-digits around the 14 minute mark, as Mat Rohden (Joinville, Brazil / Juan Diego Catholic) cut the lead to 44-35 with 13:52 remaining in regulation, but Luther could not sustain an offensive surge. The defense also could not stop the Central offense, as the Dutch ran away with an 81-54 win Saturday afternoon. 

TOP NORSE 

• Mat Rohden (Joinville, Brazil / Juan Diego Catholic) led Luther in scoring, tallying 12 points off the bench, with two rebounds and one assist. 
• Ben Gill (Sydney, Australia / Newington College) led the team with six rebounds, four of which were on the defensive end of the court. 

UP NEXT
Luther will play its final road game of the 2022-23 regular season on Tuesday, February 14, as the Norse travel to Wisconsin to face Maranatha Baptist. Tip off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in Watertown, Wisconsin.