VanHaaften hits win number 150 at home

The conference season started strongly Wednesday night for the Buena Vista University (BVU) men’s basketball team. The Beavers hosted Luther College and never trailed the Norse in a 64-51 victory. As has been the case so far this season the Beavers got off to an early lead over the Norse, 6-0 after the first five minutes. A 12-2 Beaver run later in the half helped give BVU a 24-16 halftime lead. Head Coach Brian VanHaaften felt the Beavers defense played a more solid game than they have so far this season.

“You know I thought we came out and played with a little bit of fire last night [Wednesday] on the defensive end, for the first time, where I really felt like we were dictating things on the floor,” VanHaaften said.
In the second half, BVU gradually added to its lead, eventually getting up by 23 with 5:59 to play off a three-pointer from senior Nathan Parker. The Norse responded, pulling within 13 with under 40 seconds left, but it was too little too late. 
First-year Wes Nordquist led all Beavers with 13 points. Sophomore Doug Bissen led all players with eight rebounds.
The win for BVU was its 150th home victory under the guidance of VanHaaften, who improves to 150-20 all-time inside of Siebens Fieldhouse. VanHaaften was pleased to start the conference season with a win.

“Well it’s always good,” VanHaaften said. “I’ve been around long enough to lose some games, the first game of the year, and still be okay. Sometimes it’s a wakeup call for certain teams, so that’s not a bad thing. But, on the other hand, you want to win, so it’s always great to get off to a good start.

The Beavers took on Hamline University last Sunday in St. Paul and despite a back and forth first half, the squad couldn’t handle a second half surge by the Pipers in a 107-84 loss. Both teams traded buckets early before Hamline used a 13-2 run to go up 34-23. Hamline led by 10 at half.

In the second half, Hamline maintained its lead for the first nine minutes before extending it to 20 with just under 11 minutes. BVU narrowed the gap to 12 with 6:30 left but then went cold, preserving the Piper’s victory. Sophomores Jeff Jansen and Nordquist each scored 17 points. BVU finished the game with eight three-pointers and committed just 13 turnovers, but the squad was out-rebounded 45-30.

On Tuesday, Nov. 24, BVU fell just short to Gustavus Adolphus 65-63 in a thrilling home contest. The Beavers had an early 12-2 lead but near the end of the half the Gusties used an 11-2 run to pull within a basket at half. The Gusties’ luck continued in the second half as they used a 22-8 run to gain a 53-40 lead. However, BVU would not go away, using a 9-0 run to pull within four. A layup by senior Kevin Osborn put the Beavers within two with 16 seconds left, but the shot attempt at the end of the game fell short. Despite struggling from three point range, making just 1-of-7 attempts, the squad still shot 50 percent from the field. Nordquist had 16 points and six rebounds in the contest for BVU.

Saturday, Nov. 21 was a day for the record books for the Beavers. The squad set a school record in points over the Pioneers of Grinnell College, 126-85. The Beavers did not attempt a three-point shot in the contest, yet shot a whopping 69 percent in the contest. The Beavers’ hot shooting started right out of the gate. The squad led 12-0 just over three minutes into the game.

The Pioneers did not go away though, pulling within seven near the midway point in the half 28-21. At that point, the Beavers went on a tear, outscoring Grinnell 23-8 in the final portion of the first half to go up 63-35 at halftime. The Beavers hit the school record for points scored in a game at the 2:39 mark off a Jansen layup.

Bissen had a career day, scoring 34 points (14-of-19 shooting), while collecting a game-high eight rebounds and going 6-for-6 at the free throw line. For his efforts in the game against Grinnell as well as his two previous contests, Bissen was named the Iowa Conference Men’s Basketball Performer of the Week for the period ending Nov. 22. The win gave Van Haaften his 280th win. VanHaaften feels the non-conference schedule gave the Beavers a lot of different looks.

“Well, we’ve seen all sorts of things in our first five games. We’ve seen a big power team in Wayne State. Grand View had a really nice team, a really good athletic point guard that we had some trouble with. Gustavus is always a good basketball team. We probably have a lot of similarities with Gustavus. Grinnell was a fun game to play where you got pressed all over the floor, and then Hamline was a game where we ran into a buzz saw, a team that really spread us out and drove us hard. We had a lot of trouble with those guys. It kind of culminated to the point where we’ve seen some good and different teams. I think it helped us for the game last night (Thursday),” VanHaaften said.

The Beavers sit at 3-3 (1-0 IIAC) and face conference rival Loras College in Dubuque this Saturday afternoon.