2008 Sweet 16 Team Among Alumni Honored in Feb. 4 Beaver Basketball Event
Beaver men's and women's basketball alumni invited back to campus for scrimmages, receptions, and a conference doubleheader against Coe College.
Buena Vista University hosts its annual Alumni Day for men’s and women’s basketball on Saturday, Feb. 4, at Siebens Fieldhouse.
The 2023 event invites all basketball alumni to return to catch the Beavers in action as they host Coe College. The women’s game begins at 2 p.m., while the men tip-off at 4 p.m.
Alumni of both programs are invited to morning shootaround and scrimmage sessions with the women’s scrimmage taking place at 9:30 a.m. and the men’s scrimmage at 11 a.m. A reception and luncheon for all follows at noon in Cru5h Dining inside Siebens Forum.
Milestone years are celebrated this year by the 2003 men’s team, which won the Iowa Conference regular-season and tournament titles; the 2008 men’s team, which won the regular-season league title and advanced to the Sweet 16; and the 2013 men’s team, which won the regular-season conference crown.
Alumni players present will be introduced to the Beaver faithful during halftime breaks.
The 2008 men’s team defeated Loras College for the regular-season title, then suffered a setback to the DuHakws in the conference tournament finale. Both teams earned a berth in the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Tournament. The Beavers, seeded fourth in their pod, upset the region’s top-ranked team, the University of St. Thomas, on the Tommies’ homecourt, 72-70, then followed that victory with a 54-53 triumph over Wisconsin-Stevens Point to earn a berth in the Sweet 16.
The team’s bid for an Elite Eight berth was thwarted in an 85-77overtime loss at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., the following weekend, leaving the season’s mark at 23-7.
“I remember the public address announcer reading the starting lineups as we prepared to play against St. Thomas,” says Brian Fogleman ’09, an Associate Advisor for Mutual of Omaha in Clive. “That was the most noise I’d ever heard before a game. The St. Thomas students had plastic noisemakers they were banging together, and we couldn’t even hear our names called for the lineups.”
The game was a back-and-forth affair that finally tipped in BVU’s favor when senior Rahn Franklin sank two free throws with nine seconds left to provide the winning margin.
“We gave up only 53 points the following night and found a way to win,” says Jeff Bissen, a senior on that squad who now serves as Activities Director at Glenwood High School. “It was great to win those two games on the road at St. Paul and then return to campus to celebrate with those who were unable to make the trip. The community support we had during the Sweet 16 run was incredible.”
Bissen, one of three brothers in his family to play for then-BVU Coach Brian Van Haaften, says that team chemistry played a key role in the success of the Sweet 16 squad.
“We played for one another; we did our best and did everything we could to make our teammates better,” he says.
“After losing in the conference tournament final, we earned an at-large bid and got another chance,” Fogleman remembers. “We then got it rolling and won two games we weren’t supposed to win. ‘VH’ had us believing we could do it. Fifteen years later, it gives me chills thinking about it.”