ST. LOUIS, Mo. (November 13, 2021) - Senior Michael Demers scored 24 points and Garrett Sittner added 19 to help lead the Buena Vista men's basketball team to an 84-72 road win at Fontbonne University on Saturday to close out the SLIAC/A-R-C Challenge.

Demers and Sittner each drained three long range buckets to aid their scorig efforts while Demers also went 5-of-6 at the free-throw line and added five rebounds, three assists and five steals.  He moves within 50 points of 1,000 in his career and is now 10th all-time in career three-point makes with 150.  Sittner chimed in with four assists while fellow senior Jake Thompson scored 10 points and dished out a career-high eight assists.

Following a rough shooting night to begin the season on Friday night during its loss to Westminster, the Beavers found more of their touch against the Griffins, shooting 51.7 percent from the field and 8-of-20 from long distance.  BVU also attempted 15 more free-throws than Fontbonne and went 14-of-22.

The game was back-and-forth throughout with five ties in the opening half and neither team leading by more than five.  Fontbonne held a 39-38 lead with 1:25 to go before back-to-back baskets from Demers down the stretch gave the Beavers a 42-39 lead at the break.

Demers came out and scored the first seven points of the second half that extended the margin to six at 49-43.  Sittner later connected on one of his makes from beyond the arc to put BVU up by double-digits for the first time at 56-46.  Aside from Fontbonne getting back within eight for a brief time midway through the half, the Beavers maintained the double-digit cushion, including their largest lead at 15 which was matched on a Sittner layup which made it 81-66 at the 1:21 mark.

The Griffins made 10-of-24 attempts from long range and shot nearly 49 percent from the field in the game, but BVU outscored them by 12 at the free-throw line (14-2).

Buena Vista is now 1-1 on the year and will head to the state of Wisconsin next weekend to play at UW-Stout on Friday at 7:00 p.m. before turning around on Saturday to play at UW-La Crosse at 3:00 p.m.