PELLA, Iowa (Jan. 11, 2023) - The Buena Vista men's basketball team went on the road Wednesday night and suffered a tough 79-70 loss at Central College.

Five players scored in double figures for the Beavers led by Gunner Reed's 15 points and 14 rebounds. Simon Daniel made four three-point buckets and followed with 14 points, Jacob Gaudreau and Ryan Mendoza each scored 13, and Zane Neubaum added 10. BVU made 14-of-45 three-point buckets and shot 31.9 percent from the field overall.

The Dutch led by as many as nine points in the first half on multiple occasions before BVU rallied to take a 36-35 lead in the closing minute. Central, however, got a three-point bucket in the final 20 seconds to cling to a 38-36 halftime lead. BVU started the second half strong and built its largest lead of the night at 57-48 with 13:26 to play. From there, the Dutch went on a 19-2 run over the next eight minutes to lead 67-59. Reed's layup with 2:44 left pulled the Beavers back withn 70-67, but that was as close as they'd get down the stretch. Central got back-to-back layups to push the margin back to seven and then made five free-throws down the stretch.

Central shot 46 percent from the field overall despite making 9-of-31 from long range. Grant Johnson led the way with 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Dutch which improved to 10-4 overall (5-1 A-R-C).

Buena Vista is now 7-8 overall (1-6 A-R-C) and hosts Wartburg College on Saturday, Jan. 14, at 4 p.m.