Men's Basketball | 2/4/2020 1:31:00 PM

STORM LAKE, Iowa (February 04, 2020) - The Buena Vista University men's basketball team is prepping to play Loras College and the University of Dubuque this week after dropping a pair of tough games in the American Rivers Conference a week ago.
 
Game Details
Wednesday, February 05, 2020 | Storm Lake, Iowa | Siebens Fieldhouse
Loras College (14-6, 7-4 A-R-C) at Buena Vista (15-4, 6-4 A-R-C) | 7:30 p.m.  WATCH | LIVE STATS

Saturday, February 08, 2020 |Storm Lake, Iowa | Siebens Fieldhouse
University of Dubuque (12-7, 5-5 A-R-C) at Buena Vista (15-4, 6-4 A-R-C) | 4:00 p.m. WATCH | LIVE STATS
 
Last Time Out
The Beavers suffered a tough setback against Luther College this past Saturday, losing 87-81. Sophomore DJ McNeal had a team-high 19 points for the Beavers, followed by junior Dominic Sesma and senior Timothy Jeffries, each with 16 points. Sesma also had a team-high five assists and three steals.

Series History
The Beavers are 44-37 against the Duhawks all-time, including a thrilling 92-88 overtime victory back on January 8 when Sesma converted a four-point play with under one second remaining. This series began in 1939. Loras had won five straight match-ups in the series before BVU's victory earlier this year, but three of those were decided by two points or less.

About Loras College
The Duhawks have picked up three straight wins, including an 85-67 home triumph over Simpson College on Saturday afternoon.  Rowan McGowan, who is fifth in the A-R-C in scoring, turned in a team-high 29 points with JT Ford right behind with 23.  That duo continues to pace the team on the year at 17.8ppg and 14.1ppg, respectively.  McGowan turned in a season-high 33 points in the first meeting with BVU and now has seven games with at least 20 points on the season.  Ford is shooting a team-leading 55.6 percent from the field and is also hauling in a team-high 7.6 boards per contest.  The Duhawks come in averaging over 81 points per game overall.  During league play, they have made the fewest shots from long range (72) and are shooting 30.6 percent from downtown.  That is, however, after the team did make 12-of-24 attempts in the victory over the Storm to match a season-high.   The Duhawks look to get back over the .500 mark in conference play.  The team began the year at 3-0 before losing four of its next five.

About Dubuque
The Spartans are back to .500 in conference play after a tough 92-66 road loss to ninth-ranked Nebraska Wesleyan on Saturday.  That comes after they won three of four games, including home wins over Luther and Central.  Offensively, the team is in the top-half of the conference in scoring at 80.4ppg but has struggled a bit defensively, allowing better than 84.0ppg.  It has been effective shooting from long distance, making a league-high 107 treys during A-R-C play and shooting 35 percent.  Peter Ragen is sixth in scoring at 16.4ppg and fifth in rebounding by pulling in 7.0rpg.  He, along with Mitch Burger, are in the top-10 among the A-R-C leaders in three-point makes per game at 2.0.  Burger has made a team-high 40 overall this season and has also dished out 76 assists.  Avery Butler is shooting better than 52 percent from the floor, grabbing 6.5 rebounds and has posted a team-best 23 blocked shots.  The team enters the week sitting a game back of BVU in the league standings and will travel to Central on Wednesday night.

About Buena Vista
The Beavers look to snap its first two-game losing streak of the season when they host the Duhawks on Wednesday night.  Despite the skid, the team has still shot the ball well from the field.  It was over 45 percent in the loss to the Prairie Wolves and better than 50 percent against the Norse.  It's also shot over 35 percent from long range in three of the last four contests.  Senior Timothy Jeffries leads the way at 17.8ppg and has reached double figures in nine straight games.  He continues to work his way up the career scoring list and now sits 21st with 1,076 points.  He's been a steady presence at the free-throw line for much of the season but has just four attempts over the last two games.  He's been equally as tough on the defensive end, hauling in over 6.0 rebounds per contest over the last eight games.  Junior Michael Demers has also had the hot touch as of late, shooting over 54 percent in the last three games, including a combined 14-of-26 from long distance.  He's now tied with Andre Wagner (2006-07) and Cole Darrow (2013-14) for three-point buckets in a single-season (52).  He's up to second on the team in scoring this season at 14.6ppg.  Fellow junior Dominic Sesma is right behind at 13.6ppg and trails only Demers in three-point treys at 39.  BVU has always been one of the better teams at dishing the rock, and this season is no different, with six players having posted at least 40 assists.  Sesma leads the way with 60.  As a team, the Beavers are second during conference play in scoring at 83.4ppg and are three treys away from 100 makes.

ON DECK
Following the two home games this week, the Beavers are back on the road for a pair of games next week.  The team will look to pick up the season sweep of Wartburg on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 7:30 p.m. before heading to Cedar Rapids on Saturday and looking to salvage a split with Coe College at 4 p.m.