Buena Vista downs Central men’s basketball team
Central College
STORM LAKE — Buena Vista shot 50 percent from beyond the arc and made 10 3-pointers on its way to defeating the Central College men’s basketball team 86-74 Saturday night.
The Dutch (10-9 overall, 3-5 Iowa Conference) jumped out to an early 13-8 lead, but the Beavers (14-5, 7-1) used a 12-0 run over a two and a half minute span to take a 20-13 lead.
“We didn’t take care of the ball in the first half,” said coach Craig Douma. “We turned the ball over 10 times in that first half. We just didn’t come with the energy we needed to come with tonight.”
While Buena Vista shot the ball well from the 3-point line, Central struggled. The Dutch entered the game in the top 10 in Division III play in made threes per game (10.0), but only made four of their 21 attempts from beyond the arc Saturday.
“We shot really poor from the 3-point line,” said Douma. “That’s just not us. We need to get back to playing Central basketball.”
Central did hold a slim 37-36 advantage on the boards. The Beavers came into the game outrebounding their opponents by more than four rebounds per game.
The Dutch were led by forward Colby Taylor (sophomore, Creston) who had 20 points, five boards, two assists, one block and five steals. Guard Nile Eckermann (senior, Cosgrove, Clear Creek Amana HS) added 14 points and three assists while forward Kyle Newendorp (senior, Pella) scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
The Beavers had three players in double figures led by Brett Heitkamp, who finished with 17 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
“You have to give credit to Buena Vista tonight,” said Douma. “They played really well and they had a lot of players step up. Kids off the bench played well for them.”
The Dutch will be at home Wednesday when they face Dubuque (15-4, 5-3) at 8 p.m. The Spartans defeated the Dutch 79-63 Jan. 7 in Dubuque. Andre Norris poured in 32 points for the Spartans while Taylor dropped 30 points and grabbed 15 boards for Central. A live video feed of the game can be seen at here.
