ELMHURST, Ill. (November 28, 2021) - In a game that featured 14 ties and 17 lead changes, the Buena Vista men's basketball team couldn't get multiple shot attempts to fall in the closing seconds as they came up just short of pulling off the upset on the road at No. 10 Elmhurst on Sunday afternoon with the Bluejays holding on for the 80-79 victory.

The two teams traded turnovers with under 20 seconds to go but BVU got the ball with under 10 seconds remaining and couldn't convert on a layup or short jumper just outside of the paint in the closing seconds as time expired.  Senior Michael Demers put BVU in front 79-77 with 1:35 left to play after making a pair of free-throws, but the Bluejays later forced a turnover and made a layup with 40 seconds remaining in regulation for the 17th and final lead change of the game.  

Senior Trey Valentine's fastbreak layup midway through the first half gave the Beavers the game's largest lead at 23-15 as BVU would go on to hold a slim 39-38 advantage at the half.  Neither team led by more than four points in the second half until a three-pointer by the Bluejays pushed their margin up to six with under five minutes to play.  Demers came right back with a three of his own to cut it to a three-point margin before he later gave BVU the slight lead.

Demers finished with a game and a season-high 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-6 shooting from long range, and added seven rebounds and five assists.  Fellow senior Jake Thompson scored 14 points, grabbed five boards and dished out four assists while senior Garrett Sittner chimed in with 13 points and three assists.  

BVU was 55.7 percent from the field overall in the contest despite making only 7-of-21 attempts from downtown.  It also attempted a season-low nine free-throw attempts.

Elmhurst struggled from beyond the arc as well, making just 5-of-26 but was able to get to the charity stripe 19 times while making 17.  The team made five fewer field goals in the game than the Beavers and shot just 42 percent overall.

Lavon Thomas led the Bluejays (6-0) with 18 points.

Buena Vista now sits at 2-5 overall this season and will turn its focus this week to American Rivers Conference play which tips-off for the team on Wednesday night, December 1, when defending champion Dubuque (3-2, 0-1 A-R-C) visits Siebens Fieldhouse for a 7:30 p.m. contest.