STORM LAKE, Iowa (January 15, 2020) - The Buena Vista men's basketball team got another balanced attack and used a strong second half offensively to help hold off visiting Simpson College for an 87-76 home victory over the Storm on Wednesday night.

After shooting just 34 percent from the field in the first half and holding a slim 35-30 halftime lead, the Beavers were a bit more efficient in the second by shooting 53 percent overall, including 6-of-14 from downtown and 12-of-14 at the charity stripe.  Junior Michael Demers helped lead the surge with a team-high 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting, while also dishing out four assists.  Senior Timothy Jeffries added 13 points while Jake Thompson came off the bench and chipped in with a career-high 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting.  Junior Lincoln Rock was tough at both ends, scoring 12 points, grabbing six rebounds, dishing out three assists and recording a pair of steals.

BVU forced 20 Storm turnovers in the contest and held a lopsided 25-4 edge in points off turnovers for the game, including 17 in the second half alone.  Thompson's 11 points helped the Beavers outscore the Simpson bench, 27-10.

Neither team was able to go on much of a run in the first half, as the Beavers used a 6-0 spurt to open the game' largest lead of the period at 19-13.  The Storm led briefly at 22-21 after a three-point bucket by Conor Riordan, and that proved to be their last lead of the night.

The Beavers led 35-30 at the half, and then senior Noah Schmitt made one of his three treys in the contest before Demers added a layup and the margin quickly pushed its way up to 10.  Simpson never went away, getting back as close as four at 50-46, but that was as close as they could get.  The BVU lead hovered around 10 the rest of the way, growing to as much as 13 with 4:29 to play.  Simpson was still within striking distance at 82-74 with 1:56 on the clock, but the Beaver defense tightened up a bit more down the stretch while the team also connected on 5-of-6 from the line inside the final two minutes.

Riordan finished with a game-high 29 points, five rebounds and five assists to lead Simpson (8-7, 2-4 A-R-C).

Buena Vista has won four straight and is 14-2 overall (5-2 A-R-C).  The Beavers will have a chance to rest as they dont play again until next Wednesday, January 22, when they travel to Central College for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off with the Dutch (4-11, 1-5 A-R-C).