The Buena Vista men's basketball team shot nearly 59 percent from the field and had four players finish in double figures on Friday night, to help it reach 90 points for the second straight contest and pick up a 94-73 non-conference road victory at Northwestern College (MN).
BVU was on fire from the field right out of the gate, shooting better than 54 percent in the first half and over 63 percent in the second.
Senior Troy Ticknor (Adel, Iowa/ADM), who finished with a season-high four three-point buckets in the contest, nailed one from downtown to give the Beavers a seven-point lead at 21-14. Junior Michael Kaufmann (Harlan, Iowa/Harlan), who chipped in with three long range buckets of his own in the game, added another to extend the margin to 11 midway through the first half.
A three-pointer by freshman Nick Clark (Fort Dodge, Iowa/St. Edmond), followed by a layup from Kyle Hooks (North Sioux City, S.D./Dakota Valley) increased the margin to 14 with six minutes remaining in the opening half before Ticknor and senior Wes Nordquist (Adel, Iowa/ADM) combined to score the team's final nine points down the stretch to give the Beavers a 44-29 lead the half.
BV then drilled its first six shots of the second half, including four three-pointers, to quickly build its largest lead of the night (27) with less than four minutes gone by.
The Eagles, who hit just 2-of-10 three-point attempts in the first half, caught fire from beyond the arc in the second, connecting on 9-of-17 attempts, to help them get back within 13 with over six minutes left to play.
Sophomore Cole Darrow (Glenwood, Iowa/Glenwood) then made a pair of buckets, sandwiched around three-pointers from Kaufmann and senior Max Burgeson (Milford, Iowa/Okoboji), and the lead went back up to 17 with four-and-a-half on the clock. A pair of free-throws from Kaufmann later extended the advantage back to 21 with just more than two minutes to play to help secure the win.
Nordquist turned in his fourth straight 20-point game, finishing with 20 points and eight rebounds. He came into the contest leading the Iowa Conference in both categories. Ticknor finished with a season-high 18 points and two steals, while Kaufmann and Darrow followed with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Darrow also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, as Kaufmann, Nordquist and sophomore Alex Savage (Des Moines, Iowa/Dowling Catholic) each dished out four assists. As a team, BVU dished out 22 assists on 38 made field goals, and turned the ball over just eight times.
The Eagles, who suffered their first loss of the year (5-1), bounced back to shoot 54 percent in the second half and 49 percent for the game.
Both teams combined to shoot only 14 free-throws the entire game. BVU out-rebound Northwestern, 35-26.
The Beavers improve to 3-3 overall and will look to make it three straight wins when they travel to Crown College on Saturday afternoon for a 4:00pm tip-off.