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Feb. 20, 2008Central stuns Buena Vista with Pedersen lay-in, 3-point flurry
PELLA—Central College unleashed a 3-point shooting barrage on Iowa Conference men’s basketball leader Buena Vista, but it was a 3-foot lay-up that stunned the Beavers 73-71 Wednesday.
Forward Keith Pedersen (senior, Jefferson, Jefferson-Scranton HS) hauled in a lob pass from guard Brett DeHoogh (senior, Clive, Valley HS) and spun free to lay the ball in with just 5 seconds remaining. Buena Vista guard Andre Wagner was able to get off a potential game-winning 3-point shot but it fell short with 2 seconds left.
Central was in position for the upset after hitting 16 of 32 3-pointers, the second-highest total in school history. It was Central’s senior night, and senior reserves Simeon Lang (Jefferson, Jefferson-Scranton) and A.J. Meyer (De Soto, ADM HS) were the story. Lang hit five 3-pointers and 
matched his career best with a game-high 21 points while Meyer buried 6-of-7 threes for a career-high 18 points. Senior guard Zak Clark (Fort Dodge, St. Edmond HS) added 11 points and led the Dutch with seven rebounds. DeHoogh had eight assists and Pedersen passed out six.
The 16 3-pointers give the Dutch 204 for the season, tying the school mark set in 2002-03.
The upset dropped Buena Vista into a first-place tie with Loras College in the league team standings at 13-2 with one game remaining. The Beavers are 19-5 overall.
Meanwhile Central raised its season mark to 14-8 overall, its highest win total since 1994-95 when the Dutch were 15-11. Central is 7-8 in league play.
Coach Mike Boschee started his five seniors, leaving the Dutch with an undersized lineup against the tall Beavers front line. But the seniors came up big. Central hit four straight 3-pointers in the first 3:42 and sprinted 
to a 16-4 lead. Then with 11:09 left, the Dutch hit 6 of 10 from long distance over the next 6:37 to surge ahead by a surprising 42-20.
Boschee said changing the lineup might have been a gamble but he was confident his seniors would respond.
“In the locker room before the game, I could sense that the players really wanted to send the seniors out on a positive note on their home floor,” Boschee said. “And the seniors were really ready. They played so well defensively.”
Buena Vista whittled the lead to 45-30 at halftime and kept the pressure on throughout the second half. A Wagner free throw with 53 seconds left gave Buena Vista just its second lead of the game at 71-70. But after Central guard Miguel Ley (sophomore, San Antonio, Texas, Judson HS) missed a lay-up with 30 seconds left, he muscled his way into a tie-up on the 
rebound and the arrow was pointing to the Dutch. But following the scramble, Buena Vista was whistled for a technical foul and Clark sank 1 of 2 free throws to tie the score with 23 seconds remaining. That set the stage for Pedersen’s gamewinner.
Boschee was thrilled with the stand-out performances by Meyer and Lang.
“A.J. has just been a class act all year,” he said. “He comes to practice every day and works his tail off. He’s a great leader, even though he doesn’t get a lot of playing time. Tonight he just took advantage of his opportunity. He played at a high level to help us win and we couldn’t have done it without him.
“And you could say the same thing about Sim (Lang). He’s always working hard and shows great leadership. Whenever we need him, he gives everything he has.”
Central shot 54.8 percent in the first half, including 55.0 percent from 3-point range, and hit 47.7 percent from the field for the game. Buena Vista shot 47.3 percent from the floor and had a commanding 39-26 rebounding advantage.
“Buena Vista’s an outstanding ballclub,” Boschee said. “You can see why they’re at the top of the conference. With their physical size, we knew we’d be in for a big battle but I thought we had enough fight in us to give us a chance and we showed that tonight.”
Central wraps up the regular season on the road Saturday, traveling to Decorah for a league doubleheader with Luther College at Decorah Saturday. Game time is approximately 4 p.m. Luther, 6-18 overall, is 2-13 in the conference but knocked off Central at Pella Jan. 9 58-52. Luther fell to Wartburg 53-51 Wednesday.