Michael Kaufmann nailed four three-point buckets and finished with a  game-high 20 points on Wednesday night, but it was Central College closing the game on a 13-5 run to hang on and edge the Buena Vista men's basketball team, 74-66.  The game was the Iowa Conference opener for both teams.

BVU, which shot 50 percent in the first half, used a quick 7-0 run to end the half and take a 37-31 lead into intermission.  It then quickly bumped its advantage to 10 less than four minutes into the second half, and continued to lead by as much as eight nearing the seven minute mark.  A three-pointer from the Dutch, with just over five minutes to go, evened things up at 61-61.

After Kuafmann put the Beavers back ontop 64-61 with a three of his own, Central then began its late-game surge.  It led by only three with just over a minute to play, but would go onto hit 7-of-8 attempts at the free-throw line to hold on for the win.

Kaufmann converted four of his 10 attempts from beyond the arc and also dished out five assists, grabbed five rebounds, and also tallied four steals, while playing 31 minutes.  Wes Nordquist made 5-of-6 shots from the field and both free-throw attempts to follow with 12 points and seven rebounds, as senior Trent Fisher was also in double figures with 10 points, on 5-of-7 shooting.

BVU finished the game shooting 46.6 percent from the field , but after connecting on 5-of-12 from downtown in the first half, connected on just 2-of-11 in the second.  It also committed a season-low 12 turnovers.

Demarco Turner turned in 18 points in 36 minutes to help lead the Dutch, now 4-1 overall (0-1 IIAC).

Buena Vista is now 1-5 overall (0-1 IIAC) and will return home to Siebens Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon to host Crown College (Minn.) in a non-conference match-up.  The game is set to tip-off at 4:00pm, following the women's contest at 2:00pm.