Written by Peyton Stage,
BVU Sports Information Student Intern

Storm Lake, Iowa (February 24th, 2022) - The Buena Vista men's basketball team wrapped up the No 2 seed in this year's American Rivers Conference Tournament and following more than a week off will begin tournament play Thursday night at home inside of Siebens Fieldhouse against No. 3 seed Coe College.

Inside the Series- BVU and Coe split games this season. BVU first played Coe in 2000, since then the Beavers have gotten the best of Coe as the record is 23-13. Coe was able to get the job done in the last meeting in Cedar Rapids back on February 5, with a final score of 65-62.  The Beavers led by as many as 10 points early in the second half of that contest before Coe took the lead back in the closing minutes.  BVU topped Coe in early January in the first meeting, 80-73.  This will be the first match-up between the two teams in the conference tournament since 2011-12 when the Beavers held on to win a 54-52 thriller in Cedar Rapids to win the tournament championship.  BVU is 6-0 all-time versus the Kohawks during conference tournament play, including a perfect 4-0 mark in games played in Storm Lake.

Game Details

Who?| No. 3 Coe College (20-6) at No. 2 Buena Vista University (14-11)  
When?| Thursday, February 24th 7:00 P.M 
Where?| Storm Lake, Iowa | Siebens Fieldhouse 
Live Video?|? https://team1sports.com/buenavista/ 
Live Stats | https://bvuathletics.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary ? 

2021-2022 BVU Individual Stat Leaders 

411 Points | Demers, Michael
136 Assists | Thompson, Jake
147 Rebounds | Thompson, Jake
35 Steals | Demers, Michael 

Full Stats: https://bvuathletics.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats?path=mbball 

2021-2022 Coe Individual Stat Leaders 

468 Points | Kruse, Jarad
104 Assists | Schmitt, Cale
184 Rebounds | Kruse, Jarad
49 Steals | Schmitt, Cale 

Full Stats: https://static.kohawkathletics.com/custompages/MBB/2021-22/teamstat.htm 

Last Week: The Beavers finished the regular season with a road win against the Dutch this past Wednesday. This victory was essential, simply because it created a tie for second in the conference between BVU and Coe. BVU had the tiebreaker on Coe which means the Beavers receive the first-round bye. The final score of this game was 73-69. Some of the usual suspects Michael Demers and Zane Neubaum led the Beavers with 21 and 20 points, respectively. Unfortunately, the Kohawks were not able to control their own destiny despite winning both games last week. Regardless, with a 74-65 win at home over No. 6 seed Nebraska Wesleyan on Tuesday, the Kohawks have earned their spot in the semifinals. 

About BVU- About this time last year, BVU was in a similar spot trying to make history when they fell just short to Dubuque despite being up 10 at halftime. After a disappointing loss in the championship, the Beavers were able to keep most of their seniors for another shot at the title. Just like last year, Dubuque takes the No. 1 seed while BVU gets the second. BVU is 30-14 all-time during the conference tournament and is 11-4 as the No. 2.  The team is looking to make its second straight championship appearance and its 11th overall in the 23-history of the tournament. BVU's last tournament championship came in 2012 over Coe.  The Beavers take the court having won three straight games and five of their last six overall.  They are averaging 91.0ppg during the three-game streak and are also averaging 11.0 made three-point buckets.  Sophomore Zane Neubaum has scored 20+ points in each of those three wins to help lead BVU while senior Michael Demers is averaging a team-leading 16.4ppg for the season overall.

About Coe- Coe was defeated last year by Dubuque in the semi-finals. Just like they had to beat NWU this year, last year they faced off Simpson in the first round where they won 94-88 to advance. Jarad Kruse has been making a heavy impact on Coe as he is clearly the best player they have. Jarad has been averaging 18PPG and almost hitting .400 of his 3PG. Alongside Kruse, Cale Schmitt is coming off last game with a career-high 34 points against NWU. Coe is among the top offensive teams in the league, ranking fourth during A-R-C play in scoring (74.9ppg) while sitting second in field goal shooting (.468) and leading the way in three-point shooting (.369).

On Deck: The winner of Thursday's semifinal game will advance to the tournament championship game which is scheduled for Saturday, February 26 and face the winner of the other semifinal game between No. 5 Loras and No. 1 Dubuque.