Buena Vista 62 Wayne State 61
Nathan Parker scored on a lay in with four seconds remaining to lift Buena Vista University in a 62-61 come-from-behind win over Wayne State in the men’s basketball opener for both teams played Sunday afternoon at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. The visiting Beavers rallied from a 38-26 deficit with 16:15 left in the game to record the win.
The two teams battled back and forth through the first 10 minutes, but Wayne State put together a lengthy scoring run to take control of the game late in the first half. With Buena Vista leading 14-12 at the 10:38 mark, Wayne State used a 23-5 run over the next 7:01 to take a 35-19 lead, the biggest of the game for WSC, with 3:37 left in the first half. The Wildcats finished the first half with a 36-24 lead and led 38-26 with 16:15 left in the game when Buena Vista began their comeback.
WSC still held a 58-49 lead with 4:55 to play following a three pointer by Jason Jensen. Buena Vista worked the ball inside much of the second half, scoring 26 of their 38 points in the paint to get back into the game. WSC was leading 61-53 with 2:16 remaining after Brian Metz made one of two free throws. Buena Vista’s Sam Moser had a three point play with 2:02 left to cut the lead to 61-56. A Michael Elming basket for the Beavers with 1:22 remaining reduced the Wildcat lead to three at 61-58.
Following a missed front end of a one and one by Wayne State’s Michael DiGregorio, Buena Vista reduced the lead to one point at 61-60 with 59 seconds left following a layup by Parker. A missed three pointer by Wayne State’s Elijah Miller gave Buena Vista the ball with 35 seconds left, but the Beavers turned the ball over on an errant pass by Wes Nordquist with 23 seconds to give Wayne State the ball. The Beavers fouled WSC right away and the strategy worked as Amry Shelby missed the front end of a one and one to give Buena Vista the ball again. The Beavers then worked the ball inside to Nathan Parker, who drove to his left and made a lay in with four seconds to play to give Buena Vista a 62-61 lead.
Wayne State had one last chance and Elijah Miller launched a 35 footer from the right side that went off the side of the rim and Buena Vista escaped with the come-from-behind win.
Wayne State shot 41.2 percent from the field (21 of 51). The Wildcats were 9 of 21 from the three point line, hitting 8 of 14 treys in the first half but just 1 of 7 in the second half. WSC was just 10 of 19 (52.6%) at the charity stripe. The leading scorer for Wayne State was junior forward Brad Starken with 15 points and to go with a team-high eight rebounds. Miller also reached double figures for Wayne State with 13 points.
For Buena Vista, Doug Bissen poured in a game-high 16 points while Parker finished with 10, including the game-winner with four seconds left. Wes Nordquist was the top rebounder for BV with six. The Beavers shot 24 of 48 (50 percent) from the field, 4 of 15 from the three point line and 10 of 16 (62.5%) at the charity stripe.
Wayne State returns to action on Tuesday, November 24th hosting York College in an 8:00 p.m. contest at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.