It has been a while since my last blog. A lot has happened with the Buena Vista basketball program since that time. The conference season is in full swing and we are coming off a very intense, one point, overtime, victory over the Central Dutch last night. No matter how skilled the teams are, when Buena Vista and Central play, it is always a battle. The Dutch did a great job and it was one of those games that could have gone either way.

Our program, now 12-1 (4-0 IIAC) took a trip to California over Christmas break. We all had about nine days off from basketball before Christmas. On Christmas night we all came back to Storm Lake, had practice and we were off to Omaha bright and early the next morning. We visited Hollywood Blvd., Universal Studios, and even had a chance to catch a Clippers game in the first two days we were there. I couldn’t tell who was even playing, because we were about 10 rows away from the very last row, but it was a great time. Later on in the week I experienced my first ocean. I had never been to the ocean before so the team took a trip one morning to a beach by Malibu. It doesn’t take much to excite me, but I really enjoyed it.

We went 2-0 in our two games in California. We found ourselves down 7 with about 45 seconds to go in the first game and somehow managed to get the game tied and won it in overtime. Senior Matt Cleveland had the best game of his career as he had 29 points and 12 rebounds. The second game was a battle all the way through. We managed to take a lead late and make free throws to hold on to a 3 point “W.” Andre Wagner was awarded all tournament team. His ability to create his own shot off of the dribble is amazing. I sometimes catch myself just standing there watching him. Matt Cleveland was named MVP of the tournament which was well deserved. He was hands down the best player on the court in both games. His ability to shoot outside as well as down low makes him very hard to guard.

As proven last night every game in the Iowa Conference is going to be a battle. We all know that every team is going to come out and play their best against us. We head to Dubuque on Wednesday to play a very solid Dubuque team. They are having one of their best seasons since I have been around and it is going to be a lot of fun!