Men's Basketball | 2/21/2020 6:20:00 PM

Written by BVU Sports Information student intern, Shelmund Mercalina

STORM LAKE, Iowa (February 21, 2020) – The Beavers men's basketball team is all set to play Simpson College on Saturday, February 22, to close out the regular season. The Beavers won their last game against Central College with a score of 97-85.

Game Details
Saturday, February 22, 2020 |Indianola, Iowa | Cowles Fieldhouse
Buena Vista (18-6, 9-6 A-R-C) at Simpson College (12-12, 6-9 A-R-C) | 4:00 p.m. WATCH | LIVE STATS

Last Time Out
The Buena Vista men's basketball team was held to a season-low 29 first half points against Central College on Wednesday night, but the Beavers stormed back early in the second half by draining seven three's in the first six minutes to eras an 11-point halftime deficit and turn it into a seven-point lead.  The Dutch were able to get back as close as four late in regulation but BVU closed strong en route to its 10th home win of the year.  Junior Michael Demers finished with four treys and posted a team-high 22 points.

Series History
BVU has a long history with Simpson College. It started in 1921-1922, with a victory for Simpson at 22-12. BVU holds the edge all-time against Simpson at 75-71. In the 2018-2019 season, Simpson won both meetings for its first sweep of the Beavers since 2011-12.  The Beavers, however, earned an 87-76 victory earlier this season inside Siebens Fieldhouse.  

About Simpson College
Simpson College has played 24 games this season and moved back to .500 at 12-12 following a big 86-59 upset victory over sixth-ranked Nebraska Wesleyan on Wednesday. after having lost four of its previous five games. The win kept the Storm tied with Wartburg for a chance at the sixth and final spot into next week's A-R-C Tournament.  Conor Riordan is the  team's leader in scoring, and is currently ranked third in the conference at 20.0ppg.  Adam Reiter is ninth in scoring at 15.4ppg while sitting second in rebounding at 8.8.  During conference play alone, the Storm are scoring an average of 75.6ppg while also allowing that same mark.  They're shooting just under 34 percent from downtown and at 45.4 percent overall.  

About Buena Vista
Buena Vista is locked into the fourth seed in next week's A-R-C Tournament but is looking for its second straight win to wrap up the regular season.  The team has won two of its last three outings overall.  Michael Demers is ranked second in 3-point field goals per game with 3.0 average per game. Timothy Jeffries is fourth in scoring for the conference at 17.0ppg.  As a team, BVU is tied with Nebrask Wesleyan in the league in scoring overall at 87.9ppg.  The average dips slightly to 83.9ppg during conference play, but still sits second.  Defensively, the Beavers are tops in the league in rebounding and third in rebounding defense.  The team's 18 wins are its most in a single-season since finishing 18-8 in 2014-15.