The regular season comes to a close this evening for the Central basketball teams, as they make the trip to Storm Lake to take on Buena Vista. While the regular season in the American Rivers Conference concludes on Saturday, the Dutch have their bye that day. The Central women have now clinched a spot in the conference tournament, and are locked into the sixth seed. While positioning in the standings is no longer on the line, Head Coach Joe Steinkamp wants his team to stay sharp and enter the conference tournament on a high note.

“We’ve been talking about it all year, we just want to continue to get better, just take it one day at a time. BV on the road, yeah we beat them the first time, but we haven’t won at BV in a long, long time. They have some good kids that are going to want to get a win. So we just have to come out with the right mindset, the right intensity, the same attention to detail we had this week against Luther and the second half [against Nebraska Wesleyan], and then just see what happens from there.”

Central will look to continue their win streak, having now won two in a row, including some of the biggest wins in recent memory. The Beavers have struggled greatly this season, with their lone win coming against a school from the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA).

In the nightcap, the Central men will try to end their season on a high note. The Dutch will finish in ninth and last place in the standings, meaning no conference tournament appearance. The Beavers have plateaued after a 6-2 start to the conference slate, and have lost four of their last six. Head Coach Craig Douma wants his team to enter the offseason with some momentum, and says it will require good effort against a team that may not take the Dutch too seriously.

“I want to see effort. You can’t control the score, but you can control effort. And you can control how you play defense and how you rebound. Defend and rebound, take care of the ball. You can’t control if the shot goes in or not, but you can control how hard you work, that kind of stuff. Let’s see what happens. We can beat them. They’re not really going to take us seriously. So we want to come in there and be the team that outplays them.”

Buena Vista has clinched a spot in the tournament, and will look to stay in the top four with a win, keeping them in contention for a first round home game. Tonight’s doubleheader begins with the women’s game at 5:30 inside Siebens Fieldhouse on the Buena Vista University campus in Storm Lake.