STORM LAKE, Iowa (February 19, 2020) - After a rough offensive effort led to a 40-29 halftime deficit, the Buena Vista men's basketball team came to life in a hurry at the start of the second half and erupted for 68 points en route to a 97-85 home victory on Wednesday night over Central College.

BVU was just 1-of-12 from long range in the opening half but then responded with seven three-pointers in the first four minutes of the second to change that deficit into a 48-47 lead.  Junior Michael Demers nailed two during that span while, Noah Schmitt, Timothy Jeffries and Lincoln Rock hit consecutive treys for the lead.

Demers and Jeffries then made back-to-back shots from downtown to open up a seven-point cushion at 56-49.  The lead grew to 11 before the Dutch made a run to pull within 69-65 with 7:00 still to play.  Demers then nailed one more three-pointer to help cap an 11-2 run and give BVU its largest lead of the night at 80-67.  The Dutch were again within seven with just over two minutes left, but the Beavers made their free-throws down the stretch to help secure the win and the season sweep.

Demers finished with a team-high 22 points, including four three's, and moves into sole possession of eighth on the program's single-season three-point list with 68.  He's just two back of Brendan Reilly four seventh and six shy of pulling even with Andre Wagner for sixth.  DJ McNeal followed with 19 points and eight rebounds off the bench, Jeffries chipped in with 17 points and Rock posted his third double-double with 11 points and 10 boards.  Dominic Sesma added 11 points, six rebounds and a team-leading five assists.

The Beavers shot over 64 percent from the field in the second half to finish at 53 percent overall.  Nine of the team's 22 made field goals over the final 20 minutes were from downtown as it went 10-of-31 for the game.  After shooting only six free-throws in the first half, the team was 15-of-19 in the second.

Adam Flinn had a big night for the Dutch (5-20, 2-14 A-R-C), scoring a game-high 33 points on 6-of-10 shooting from downtown.  The Dutch were 16-of-28 from deep in the contest but went just 15-of-24 at the charity stripe as they conclude their season.

Buena Vista reaches 10 home victories for the first time since 2014-15 and improves to 18-6 overall (9-6 A-R-C).  The team looks to close out the regular season on a high note when it travels to Simpson College for the regular season finale on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.