Senior Kennedy Drey capped off a stellar week with a game-high 21 points and seven rebounds while David Jeffries added 12 points and six assists, and the Buena Vista men's basketball team used a big second half to break open a one-point halftime lead and cruise to a 75-55 victory over visiting Luther College (2-13, 0-8 IIAC) on Saturday afternoon.
Drey finished the game shooting 6-of-11 from the field while making both three-point attempts and matching a career-high with seven made free-throws (7-of-8). Jeffries was a perfect 4-of-4 at the charity stripe and 4-of-9 from the field. He also hauled in three rebounds and chalked up four more steals.
Thomsas Wisecup chimed in with nine points and four assists while Sean Morgan added seven points and five boards. Connor Winkelman came off the bench and finished with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting.
The game was back-and-forth for most of the first half with three ties and nine lead changes. That was quickly forgotten after halftime when BVU scored nine of the first 11 points of the second half to go up by eight after a Paul Gallagher three-point bucket.
The Norse had trimmed their deficit back down to four just minutes later, but back-to-back three-point shots from Drey and Wisecup opened up the game's first double-digit lead at 50-38 with 14:24 left. Adam Juhl then gave BVU a 20-point lead midway through the half after a pair of free-throws. The Beavers led by as many as 28 in the half en route to their fifth straight win to remain atop the IIAC standings.
The Beavers shot 47 percent from the field in the contest and made 21-of-24 free-throw attempts while holding Luther to only eight attempts (7-of-8). They also outrebounded the Norse, 36-23, and scored 25 points off of 19 Luther turnovers.
BVU is now 11-6 on the year (7-1 IIAC) as head coach Brian Van Haaften secures his 394th career victory. The Beavers will look to remain perfect on their home floor during IIAC play when they host Simpson College (11-6, 4-4 IIAC) on Monday night at 8:00pm. The game is a make-up of last Monday's orginally scheduled match-up.