Men's Basketball | 3/11/2021 10:49:00 AM

STORM LAKE, Iowa (March 11, 2021) - The Buena Vista men's basketball team rolled to a 26-point quarterfinal round victory on Tuesday night against seventh-seed Wartburg and now gets set to entertain sixth-seed Central College in the semifinal round of the American Rivers Conference Tournament tonight inside of Siebens Fieldhouse.

THE MATCH-UP
No. 6 Central (3-3, 2-3 A-R-C) vs. No. 2 Buena Vista (8-2, 7-2 A-R-C)
A-R-C Tournament Quarterfinals | Live Video | Live Stats
Thursday, March 11, 2021 | Storm Lake, Iowa | Siebens Fieldhouse

SERIES HISTORY 
The two teams will be facing-off for the 155th time with Central holding an 81-73 series lead...The first game played between the two programs took place way back in 1922-23...Buena Vista has won four straight over the Dutch and 11 of the last 14...The Beavers have gone 14-2 inside of Siebens Fieldhouse in the series since 2001.

Last 5 Match-Ups 
03/06/21  Buena Vista 97, Central 67  |  Pella, Iowa
02/19/20  Buena Vista 97, Central 85  |  Storm Lake, Iowa
01/22/20  Buena Vista 90, Central 75  |  Pella, Iowa
02/06/19  Buena Vista 108, Central 78  | Storm Lake, Iowa
01/09/19  Central 77, Buena Vista 73  |  Pella, Iowa

LAST TIME OUT 
The Beavers made a season-high 15 three-point buckets and shot over 53 percent from the field overall en route to a 96-70 home victory over Wartburg during Tuesday night's quarterfinal round of the conference tournament.  Senior Michael Demers turned in a game-high 24 points, including four long distance makes, to go along with seven rebounds and three assists.  Seniors Jake Thompson and Garrett Sittner followed with 16 points apiece and freshman Zane Neubaum chipped in with 11.  BVU went 15-of-33 from beyond the arc, including 9-of-18 in the first half to build a 54-32 halftime lead.

ABOUT THE DUTCH

Central advanced into the semifinal round after the sixth-seed Dutch notched a thrilling 97-95 overtime road victory over third-seed Loras College played in Dubuque in Tuesday's quarterfinal.  It was just the team's sixth game total this season after a couple lengthy layoffs due to the COVID-19 health and safety protocols.  Adam Flinn, the A-R-C's leading scorer this season at 19.8ppg put in the game-winning layp for the Dutch with two seconds remaining in the extra period.  Earlier in the second half, the senior guard went over the 1,000 career-point mark.  Fellow senior Caden Mauck turned in a double-double with 17 points and 12 boards.  Mauck is third in the league in rebounding this season (8.2rpg) and second on the team in scoring at 12.5ppg.  As a team, Central averages 75.7ppg which is fifth in the A-R-C but sits last in the league in points allowed per game at 84.8.  It has allowed 95 points or more in three of the six games played.  The Dutch have a way of making deep runs in the conference tournament, having appeared in five conference tournament championship games, including three straight from 2016-18.  It wont tournament titles in 2010, 2014, 2016.

BEAVER NOTES 
-- Beavers are 24-7 all-time at home during conference tournament games
-- Team is looking to make its first tournament championship game appearance since 2012.  It's currently tied with Wartburg for the most championship appearances all-time (9).
-- Team is tops in the A-R-C in made three-pointers per game, averaging 10.7 per game. 
-- Michael Demers is third in the league in scoring (18.7ppg) and seventh in three-point makes per game (2.0).
-- Demers has made 142 career three-point buckets which puts him 10th all-time in school history
-- Santich is tie for as the league leader in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.8); Sittner is third (2.4)
-- Sittner is third in the A-R-C in assists per game (3.6apg).
-- BVU is ranked seventh nationally in assists per game this season (19.9apg)
-- Team ranks second in the A-R-C in turnover margin (+2.90) 

UP NEXT 
The winner of this game will move onto the tournament championship game on Saturday (March 13) against the winner of the other semifinal match-up between No. 4 Coe and No. 1 Dubuque.