Men's Basketball | 1/8/2020 11:03:00 AM

STORM LAKE, Iowa (January 8, 2020) - The Buena Vista men's basketball team goes on the road for the first time in over a month tonight when it travels to Loras College for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off against the Duhawks.

Game Details
Wednesday, January 8, 2020 | Dubuque, Iowa | Lillis Court
Buena Vista (11-2, 2-2 A-R-C) at Loras (10-3, 3-1 A-R-C) | 7:30 p.m.  WATCH | LIVE STATS

Last Time Out
The Beavers bounced back with a win over Luther College, 77-54, on Saturday after having its eight-game home win streak snapped two nights earlier.  BVU took control of the game in the first half and built a 15-point halftime cushion.  The margin grew to 20 early in the second half and the team was able to maintain that advantage nearly the entire period.  Senior Timothy Jeffries turned in a team-high 21 points, including a trio of three-point makes.  Juniors Dominic Sesma and Michael Demers each connected on a pair from downtown and followed with 14 and 12 points, respectively.  As a team, BVU shot over 50 percent from the field in the first half before cooling off to 30.7 over the final 20 minutes.  It was the fourth time this season the Beavers have held an opponent under 60 points.

About Loras
The Duhawks are receiving votes in the latest D3hoops.com national poll.  The team takes its home court for the second straight time to begin this decade and looks to bounce back from a tough 99-85 loss to then 8th-ranked Nebraska Wesleyan on Saturday.  Jordan Boyd led four players in double figures with 22 points, while also grabbing a team-leading eight rebounds.  The Duhakws shot over 60 percent from the field in the second half and finished at 51.5 percent for the game.  Despite the loss, Loras has won seven of its last eight games overall and comes in with conference wins over Central, Luther and Simpson, respectively.  The team is averaging 82.5ppg overall this season but is only outscoring opponents by an average of 4.0ppg.  It's shooting nearly 48 percent from the field and better than 32 percent from long range and 71.0 percent at the charity stripe.  It has made at least 10 three-point buckets in only three games this season and averages just 6.8 makes per contest.  Rowan McGowan leads the team in scoring at 15.7ppg and is by far the team's top three-point threat with 33 makes.  Only one other player is in double digits (Matt Dacy-Seijo, 15).  Boyd is second in scoring at 12.7ppg and has 10 of the team's 22 blocks.  JT Ford is hauling in a team-high 6.5 rebounds per contest and also leads the way in assists (33).

About Buena Vista
The Beavers are looking to move above the .500 mark and win consecutive games in conference play for the first time this season.  The team has already matched its overall win total from a year ago. For the year, BVU is scoring an average of 89.5ppg which is third in the league.  During league play, it's been held to just 77.8ppg which is sixth  On the flip-side, the Beavers are allowing a league-low 69.5ppg and has allowed only two teams to score over 80 points all season.  It has made at least 10 three-point buckets in a game eight times, including a season-high 18 at Bethany Lutheran.  Senior Timothy Jeffries leads the way in scoring at 19.0ppg which also ranks third in the A-R-C.  He takes the floor tonight just 17 points shy of 1,000 in his career.  Four of the team's five starters are averaging double figures in scoring.  Junior Michael Demers has made a team-high 32 three-point baskets and is shooting 34.8 percent from downtown.  Fellow junior Lincoln Rock is 45.1 percent from long range and is averaging 1.8 makes per game.  As a team, the Beavers are shooting 33.0 percent from downtown and ranks 13th in Division III with 11.4 makes per game.  In all, five players have made at least 18 treys on the year.  Defensively, the Beavers average 44.2 rebounds per contest and is out-rebounding teams by an average of 10.6 boards per game which is eighth in DIII.

ON DECK
Buena Vista will make the trip back across the state on Saturday, January 11, when it plays at the University of Dubuque in a 4 p.m. contest.