DUBUQUE, Iowa (January 8, 2020) - The Buena Vista men's basketball team found itself down by 23 points late in the first half on the road at Loras on Wednesday night, but the Beavers used a big 24-6 run over an eight-minute stretch in the second to take their first lead and eventually knock off the Duhawks on their home court, 92-88, in overtime.

It was nearly all Loras in the first half as the Duhawks shot 68 percent from the field, including 6-of-10 from long distance to build a 52-30 lead with under two minutes left before halftime.  BVU, which made 7-of-14 from beyond the arc over the first 20:00, connected on back-to-back ones to close out the half, inclduing one from DJ McNeal which was just inside the halfcourt line as time expired off an inbounds play that brought the team back within 17 at the break.

The Duhawks were still in front, 61-45, with after a made basket with 14:00 left in regulation before McNeal made a pair of free-throws that began a string of 11 straight points for the Beavers, capped by Lincoln Rock's steal and transition layup.  Jeffries then made one of his two three-point buckets in the contest to get BVU as close as 63-61 with under 9:00 to go before a layup by Michael Demers put BVU in front for the first time at 69-67 with 6:06 remaining.

Loras then used a 7-0 spurt to go up by five with 4:14 left in regulation before McNeal made a pair of free-throws followed by an and-one bucket and free-throw that tied things at 74-74 and just 2:37 to go.  After the Duhawks made 1-of-2 at the charity stripe on their next possession, Semsa made a layup at the other end which put BVU back in front by just a point and just over a minute on the clock.  Loras regained the lead on a made basket before Jeffries calmly sank a pair of shots from the line with under 55 seconds to go.

Rowan McGowan, who had a monster game for the Duhawks with 33 points, hit a go-ahead three-pointer to give Loras an 80-78 lead but on the inbounds, BVU raced down the court and McNeal put in a layup with three seconds left tied the game.  Loras called timeout and had the ball just in front of its bench but its lob pass toward the basket was broken up by Rock to send the game into overtime.

The Duhawks scored the first four points of the extra period and led 84-80.  They still led at 86-82 with under two minutes to go before Joe Lind came up clutch with a big three-point bucket to get the Beavers back within one.  Lind came off the bench and chipped in with seven points for the Beavers.  Jeffries was big down the stretch for the Beavers, coming up with a steal that led to a fast break layup by Demers, who was also fouled on the play.  After missing a pair of free-throws late in regulation that would have given the team a three-point led, Demers bounced back and calmly made this attempt to put the Beavers back in front 88-86 with 1:14 left.
The two teams traded missed three-point attempts before Loras tied it with a layup and 19 seconds to play.  BVU came back down across half court and called timeout.  After the break, Sesma would eventually get the ball and got buried a good look from right in front of the Beaver bench just before the buzzer sounded.  He was fouled on the play and went to the line and made the free-throw to secure the win.  He finished the game with 17 points, including a pair of long distance treys.  

Jeffries had a big night by finishing with 20 points and becoming the 31st player in program history to score 1,000 career points.  He also chipped in with a team-high seven rebounds and four assists.  McNeal and Demers each finished with a trio of three-point baskets and tallied 18 and 17 points, respectively.  As a team, the Beavers knocked down 11 treys despite shooting only 31 percent from downtown and making only 2-of-16 in the second half.

BVU forced Loras (10-4, 3-2 A-R-C) into 26 turnovers despite the Duhawks holding a slim advantage on the glass, 31-27.  The Beavers scored 40 off their points off of turnovers compared to only 24 points by the home team.

The Beavers (12-2, 3-2 A-R-C) have won consecutive conference games for the first time this season as the win pushes this up into a four-way tie for second in the league standings with the Duhawks and Coe.  Dubuque, which is just a half-game back at 2-2 following its win over the Kohakws on Wednesday, will host BVU coming up this Saturday afternoon with tip-off scheduled for 4 p.m.