Tanner Hoops | Staff Writer
Basketball returned to Siebens Fieldhouse over the weekend and the Buena Vista men’s basketball team treated their fans to a pair of season-opening victories.
Friday night, the Beavers kicked off the 2016-17 campaign against Gustavus Adolphus and dealt the Gusties an 81-60 loss. The win was the Beaver’s first season-opening victory since November 2008 and it was the first season-opening win inside Siebens Fieldhouse since 2004.
Buena Vista shot 64% from the field in the first half and raced to a 44-34 halftime lead. With five minutes remaining in the game, the Gusties trimmed the Beaver lead to five points at 65-60 but Buena Vista held their guests scoreless the rest of the way, ending the game on a 13-0 run.
Kennedy Drey led the way scoring 22 points and collecting 14 rebounds while Thomas Wisecup added 19 points. David Jeffries scored 11 points in his Beaver debut and Paul Gallagher dished out ten assists. For the game the Beavers shot 56% from the field, while holding a 45-35 rebounding edge over the Gusties.
It was a quick turnaround for the Beavers as they returned to action Saturday night, downing Augsburg 67-65.
After an explosive first half the previous evening, the two teams shot a combined 23% in the first half on Saturday. Buena Vista lead 20-19 at the halftime break but Augsburg opened the second stanza on a 17-6 run. The Beavers were able to chip away at the lead before going on a 12-0 run to pull ahead for good. Augsburg hung around down the stretch and a Collin Olmscheid 3-pointer made it a one point game with 0.5 seconds left on the clock. Adam Juhl split on his two free throw attempts and an Auggie desperation heave at the buzzer was well off the mark.
Sean Morgan finished the game with a team-high 19 points, while Drey recorded his second double-double in as many nights, tallying 17 points and ten rebounds. Jeffries had another 11 point game while Owen Statlander added seven.
Statlander was quick to credit the ‘Beaver Den’ for the energy and atmosphere they provided over the weekend.
“Huge shoutout to the student section, you guys were amazing.”
“The first half was very ugly, the second half was well-played, overall a good, solid game for our guys,” said Buena Vista Coach Brian Van Haaften. “We made some adjustments at halftime, started swinging the ball a little bit more. Just a good game for us.”
Buena Vista moves to 2-0 on the season and will return to action Tuesday, November 22, for an exhibition game at Nebraska-Omaha. The next official contest will be Sunday, November 27 against Wisconsin-Stout.
The Beaver women’s basketball traveled to St. Peter, Minnesota, over the weekend to take part in the Gustavus Adolphus Classic.
After dropping their season-opener at Augustana on Tuesday, the Beaver women hoped to bounce back Friday against Viterbo but fell by a score of 82-75.
After garnering a five-point lead after one quarter, Buena Vista outscored Viterbo 19-7 in the second frame to take a 40-23 halftime lead. But the V-Hawks didn’t go away and used a 23-7 run in the second half to take the lead for good. Sidney Beckman led four Beavers in double-figures, scoring 16 points while dishing out seven assists. Claudia Larsen added 14 points and nine rebounds while Jasmine Demers and Holly Schneider scored 13 points each.
Saturday the Beavers took on St. Scholastica and came away with a 71-52 victory in what was the first ever meeting between the two schools.
The Beavers built a 31-16 halftime lead and never looked back during a 37% shooting performance from the field. The Beavers drained nine 3-point shots in the game, including five in the decisive third quarter alone. Beckman made five 3-pointers by herself as part of her 15-point performance for the game. Larsen scored 12 points, while adding eight rebounds and 11 blocks; the 6th-highest total ever recorded in a Division III game, while Morgan Mulhbauer added ten points off the bench.
The Beaver women move to 1-2 in the season and return to action Tuesday, November 22, when they host Waldorf.
Photo by Emily Kenny
