Ticknor Pours in Career-High 17 Points to Help Lead Beavers over Dutch

Freshman Troy Ticknor (Adel, Iowa/ADM) scored nine of his career-high 17 points over the final 4:20 of the contest, including a key three-pointer which helped spark an 18-8 run, and the Buena Vista men's basketball team chalked up a 77-68 home victory over Central College (6-2, 2-1 IIAC) on Thursday night.

Central College led 60-59 with five minutes to play before Ticknor took a pass from fellow freshman Wes Nordquist (Adel, Iowa/ADM) and drained his second straight three-point bucket, to put the Beavers back on top 62-60.  A foul was also called on the Dutch away from the ball after the attempt, giving BVU a one-and-one situation at the free-throw line.  Nordquist was the man at the line and went 1-of-2, extending the advantage to three.

Nordquist then connected on a pair of free-throws and added a layup on the team's next two possessions to push the BVU lead up to seven (67-60) before two Ticknor free-throws made it a nine-point lead with two minutes to play.

From there, the Dutch were unable to get any closer than five points, as the Beavers went 8-of-10 from the charity stripe down the stretch.

Ticknor finished 2-of-5 from downtown and made all seven free-throw attempts, while playing just 16 minutes.  Nordquist was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free-throw line to follow with 16 points.  Senior Kevin Osborn (Harlan, Iowa/Harlan) was also perfect from the field (4-of-4), including 2-of-2 from long range, en route to a career-best 13 points.  He also chalked up a game-high six assists.  Bissen finished one point shy of a double-double, as he scored nine points and hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds.  He and Nordquist each finished with three blocked shots.

BVU, which trailed by as many as 11 in the first half, shot better than 52 percent from the field for the game and went 6-of-13 from downtown, while holding the Dutch, who came in averaging a league-best 84 points per game, to just 41 percent overall, including 4-of-16 from long range.  The Beavers also sank 16 free-throws, while Central attempted only 11.

The Dutch, who trailed 5-4 early on, went on a 20-8 run midway through the first half to build an 11-point lead only to see the Beavers respond right back with a 16-6 run to get back to within a point (30-29) at the break.

Buena Vista improves to 5-3 overall (3-0 IIAC) and will return to action on December 19 when the team goes on the road to Orange City, Iowa, to take on Northwestern College in a 4:00 p.m. tip-off.

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