11/11/14 • By Kyle Cummings / kcummings@columbustelegram.com

COLUMBUS -- Midway through the first half, Central Community College's Tanner Fuelberth nailed a 3-pointer from the corner, pushing the Raiders within eight points of Iowa Western.

Central then missed its next 21 3-point attempts, as Iowa Western breezed to an 82-53 win Tuesday at the Raider Fieldhouse.

"I think we set back shooting about 500 years," Central head coach Jerry Drymon said. "We had a lot of open shots. We need to make 3-point shots to be successful. We're coming off four games in a row of making 10-plus 3-point shots. That's really the difference of the game, I think, was the 3-point shooting. They made some and we really couldn't make any."

The Raiders finished 3-of-24 from behind the arc, while Iowa Western made 8-of-26 in the contest.

The Raider defense contained the Reivers for a stretch early in the game, holding Iowa Western to nine points in about a four-and-a-half-minute span.

Central was able to use those defensive stands to put up 22 points off turnovers in the game, which helped the Raiders pull within eight points a couple of different times in the first half.

"We hung with them pretty well in the first half," Drymon said. "I was pretty pleased. We slowed the pace down a little bit more and made it more of a grind and they did a good job with that. We just could not make a shot."

That's when a 3-pointer or two would have come in handy.

But Central would blank from the 3-point line for the rest of the half, as Iowa Western eventually overcame its scoring slump.

"Offensively, it was a struggle," Drymon said. "Whether we talk about free throws or 3-point shots, anything -- it was a struggle. We need easy buckets. We're not going to beat people inside, so we need some threes and we need some easy buckets, which is really what our inside game is."

Within three minutes, Iowa Western turned the eight-point game into a 12-point lead.

Iowa Western strung together an 8-2 run to end the half, taking a 38-22 lead.

"Two mistakes at the end and it goes from a 10-point game to a 16-point game," Drymon said. "You can't make mistakes against good teams or give them any runs. That was the difference between going into halftime feeling good about yourself versus a struggle."

Behind Deshawn Munson's 13 points, D.J. Evan's 12 points and Andre Wallace's 11 points, the Reivers went on to outscore Central 44-31 in the second half to close the game.

"(Munson) is super athletic," Drymon said. "He's a really good penetrator and they have some really big guys inside, who are pretty physical and alter some shots."

Those big guys inside for Iowa Western -- most notably Thik Bol and Matt Donlan -- combined for eight blocks in the game.

Shawn Robinson led all scorers in the game, tallying 15 points for the Raiders, while Fuelberth and Tyrone Clayton each finished with eight points.

Central travels to Salina, Kansas, Friday to play Barton Community College.

Tuesday at the Raider Fieldhouse

Iowa Western (3-1) 38 44 - 82

Central (1-5) 22 31 - 53

* IOWA WESTERN (field goals-free throws-fouls-points) - Rico Thompson 3-1-1-1-7, Donovan Jackson 3-0-0-4-8, Hunter Posey 1-0-0-4-8, Matt Donlan 1-0-0-1-2, Andrew Wallace 3-3-6-3-11, D.J. Evans 5-1-2-1-12, Shaffee Carr 3-1-2-2-9, Raheem Tyner 3-3-4-0-9, Deshawn Munson 6-1-4-3-13, Thik Bol 2-0-0-2-4, James Wanjara 1-2-2-1-4. Totals 31-12-21-18-82.

* CENTRAL - Shawn Robinson 6-3-4-1-15, Warol Gatdit 1-4-4-2-6, Bryant Kelly 2-0-0-2-4, Tyrone Clayton 4-0-0-2-8, Connor Long 2-0-0-1-5, David Joachim 2-2-6-2-6, Tanner Fuelberth 3-0-0-1-8, Nietzche Jeantinor 0-0-0-3-0, Daniel Maganda 0-1-2-4-1. Totals 20-10-16-18-53.

* 3-point field goals - Iowa Western 8 (Jackson 2, Wallace 2, Carr 2, Donlan, Evans), Central 3 (Fuelberth 2, Long).