WAVERLY, Iowa – Senior guard
Jaran Sabus (Urbandale) and sophomore guard
Max Smith Drahos (Cedar Rapids) both finished with double-doubles to lead Wartburg (14-6 overall, 8-3) to a 93-81 victory over Central (7-12, 4-6) Saturday afternoon, to extend its current winning streak to five games.
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Sabus scored a team-high 27 points and pulled in 10 rebounds en route to his second double-double of the season, while Smith Drahos scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to secure his first double-double. Senior guard
Cam Kickbush (Reinbeck) scored 18 points, hitting four out of six three-point attempts (66.7%). Senior center
Josh Gehling (Dyersville) added 12 points and four rebounds.
Jaden Moody scored a game-high 31 points for the Dutch, while Shimar Jones poured in 21 points on eight of 11 shooting (72.7%). Moody led the team with eight rebounds.
The two teams played a tight first half, with Wartburg leading at the break 45-40. A three-pointer on the first possession of the second half for the Dutch trimmed the lead to two points, but an ensuing 5-0 run put the Knights back up seven (50-43) with 18:25 to play. Central battled back to regain the lead after Adam Flinn connected on a jumper to put the Dutch up one at 55-54, their first lead since 8:44 left in the first.
Central led for a majority of the following seven minutes before Wartburg regained the lead after Kickbush hit a three-pointer to put the Knights up 68-66 with 10:38 to play. The Orange and Black continued to build on that lead, leading by as much as 14 points before finishing the game with a 93-81 victory.
The Orange and Black led the Dutch in all shooting statistical categories, rebounds (40-34) and steals (8-3). Wartburg's bench outscored the Dutch's bench 25-5, which was led by junior guards
Tyler Zumbach (Anamosa) and
Camry Moore (Waverly), who scored 11 points and nine points, respectively. Zumbach's seven rebounds finished one shy of his career-high (8).
Sabus' 27 points moved him up to fifth all-time in program history for career points scored (1,471). He now trails fourth place by 26 points, third place by 48 points and second place by 125 points. After scoring 18 points in tonight's game, Kickbush improved his career point total to 1,031 points and moved up to 31
st in program history for career points scored. He trails 30
th by two points (1,033), 29
th by six (1,037) and 28
th by 36 points (1,067).
The Knights will return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 30, where they will travel to face Simpson (11-7, 5-5) at 8 p.m.