STORM LAKE, Iowa (January 12, 2022) - Michael Demers scored 22 points and Zane Neubaum added 21 to help lead the Buena Vista men's basketball team to a convincing 86-70 home victory over Central College.

The duo combined to shoot 16-of-24 from the field with Demers going a season-best 6-of-7 from downtown.  They each grabbed seven rebounds with Demers also coming up with four steals.  Michael Santich added 14 points with Garrett Sittner chipping in with 13 points.

Buena Vista was efficient from the field all game long, finishing  52.4 percent from the field overall and 13-of-26 from downtown.  Neubaum was 3-of-4 from three-point range with Thompson adding two.  The Beavers held Central to only 5-of-16 from beyond the arc.

The Dutch scored the first bucket of the game to lead 2-0 but BVU scored the next five points and never trailed again.  Central did keep it close for most of the first half, as the Dutch trailed by just three at 31-28 with 4:23 left in the half before the Beavers end the period on a 8-0 run to take a 43-32 halftime lead.

Demers came out and knocked down a three-pointer to begin the second half to bump the lead up to 14 and BVU never let the Dutch get within 11 the rest of the way.  The Beavers led by 19 midway through the half and by as much as 21 with about two minutes to play.

Sam Beatty turned in 16 points to lead the Dutch (3-11, 0-6 A-R-C) while Josh Van Gorp added 15.

Buena Vista wins its fifth straight American Rivers Conference contest and improves to 8-8 overall (5-2 A-R-C).  The team closes out the first half of its league schedule on Saturday, January 15 on the road at Wartburg.  Tip-off inside of Levick Arena is set for 4:00 p.m.