Big Second Half Lifts Men's Basketball over Spartans

Three Beavers scored in double figures against the University of Dubuque on Wednesday night, and the team used a big second half shooting effort to help win its third straight game and top the Spartans, 73-62.

Senior Doug Bissen (Earling, Iowa/Harlan), who led the Iowa Conference in field goal percentage at 58 percent coming into the contest, finished 7-of-10 from the field and 4-of-7 at the free-throw line to help lead the way with 18 points, to go along with seven rebounds.  Fellow senior Jeff Janssen (Fairmont, Minn./Fairmont) scored 10 quick points for the Beavers and finished with 15 overall, as senior Trent Fisher (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) chimed in with 10 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench.

The game was tied four times in the first five minutes with neither team leading by more than three.  After neither team scored for the next two minutes, the Spartans then broke a 15-all tie with a 9-2 run to grab a seven-point lead midway through the period and take a 36-31 halftime lead.

After shooting 40 percent in the first half, the Beavers turned it up a notch in the second, connecting on better than 58 percent (14-of-23).  Dubuque was still up six two minutes into the period and led 49-44 with under 13 minutes to go.

Back-to-back buckets by Bissen and Fisher cut the deficit to one before freshman Cole Darrow (Glenwood, Iowa/Glenwood) buried a three-pointer to give BVU a 51-49 advantage – its first lead since 13-12.  Junior Wes Nordquist (Adel, Iowa/ADM), who added nine points, then put the Beavers up by four nearing the nine-minute mark.

The two teams virtually matched each other basket-by-basket for  the next seven minutes before Darrow sank two free-throws to give BVU its largest lead of the night at six (66-60) with 2:30 remaining.

Following a missed three-pointer by the Spartans on their next trip down the floor, Fisher came back and knocked down a deep jumper in the corner just in front of the Beaver bench with 1:40 left to bump the margin up to eight.

The Beavers then made 3-of-4 free-throws for the game’s first double-digit lead of the night with 30 seconds to play to secure the win.

BVU closes out the first half of the IIAC schedule at 9-8 overall (5-3 IIAC).  The team gets a little break before taking the court next, as the Beavers will return to action next Wednesday night, January 25, with an 8:00pm tip-off at Wartburg College (8-9, 2-6 IIAC).  BVU topped the Knights, 65-58, back on December 7.

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