The Buena Vista men's basketball team used a 14-of-22 effort from three-point land on Tuesday night as the Beavers blew open a three-point halftime lead to defeat visiting Bethel University, 94-74.

Both teams were connecting on all cylinders offensively throughout the first half with each shooting better than 60 percent from the field and combining for 12 three-point baskets.  One of those makes came at the first-half buzzer by junior Nick Clark, giving the Beavers a 46-43 lead at the break.

BVU then came out firing to start the second half, using a key 14-4 spurt to build a 60-47 lead with less than four minutes gone by.  The lead steadily grew to 70-51 with 13:00 to play, and the Beavers never left Bethel get any closer from there.

A three-point from Cole Darrow, who went 4-of-5 from long range, gave BVU its largest lead of 90-61 with just over 4:00 on the clock.

Darrow was recognized prior to the game with a commemerative game ball after becoming the 27th player in program history to record 1,000 career points.  He led the Beavers with 22 points and also chipped in with five assists.

Sophomore Kennedy Drey continues his hot start to the year by turning in a career-high 15 points and hauling in a team-best seven rebounds.  Nick Wuebker came off the bench and added 13 points and six rebounds, while Tyler Kastantin also drilled four three-point buckets and followed with 12 points.  Alex Savage was the fifth Beaver in double figures, turning in 10 points while dishing out a team-leading six assists.

As a team, the Beavers shot a sizzling 62 percent from the field and also went 14-of-19 at the charity stripe.

Defensively, BVU held the Royals (2-1) to only two three-point buckets in the second half and outrebounded them, 38-26.  Bethel had made five three-point attempts in the opening half and shot right at 60 percent overall.  The Royals finished the contest shooting 46.9 percent overall.

Buena Vista has now won two straight overall and improves to 3-2 on the year.  The team will return to action on Saturday night when it travels to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville for a 7:00pm tip-off with the Pioneers.