Lavon Thomas scored a game-high 18 points to help the Elmhurst University men's basketball team narrowly edge Buena Vista University 80-79 at R.A. Faganel Hall.

Elmhurst, ranked 10th in the D3hoops.com poll, improved to 6-0 on the season while Buena Vista slipped to 2-5 on the year. The back-and-forth contest featured 17 lead changes and 14 ties.

The Bluejays fell behind in the opening half after a cold shooting start. Elmhurst trailed by eight (23-15) with 8:41 left to play in the first half. An 11-2 run by the Bluejays gave Elmhurst a 26-25 lead with five minutes remaining. The two team exchange leads three times down the stretch with Buena Vista carrying a 39-38 lead into the locker room at the half. Elmhurst shot only 12-of-34 (35.6 percent) from the floor and only 7.1 percent (1-of-14) from downtown in the first 20 minutes of action.

Elmhurst opened up a four-point cushion with 14 minutes left to play following an Ocean Johnson layup. The Beavers answered back with a 7-0 run to move in front by three with 10:21 remaining. With the score even at 70-70 with six minutes left to play, Elmhurst drained back-to-back three-pointers from Jonson and Jake Rhode to open up a six-point cushion. The Bluejays led 78-72 with four minutes left on the clock but Buena Vista rattled off the next seven points to take a 79-78 lead with 1:35 left to play.

Rhode hit a driving layup with 39 seconds left to play to give Elmhurst an 80-79 lead and then stole the ball from Buena Vista with just seconds left to play. With just over seven seconds left to play, Elmhurst turned the ball over on an inbounds pass. Buena Vista missed a layup and a jump shot in the closing seconds allowing the Bluejays to escape with the win.

Elmhurst finished the contest shooting 42.0 percent from the floor (29-of-69) but only 19.2 percent (5-of-26) from 3-point range. The Bluejays were solid from the foul line, hitting 17-of-19 attempts (89.5 percent). Buena Vista shot 55.7 percent (34-of-61) from the floor, including 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from beyond the arc. The Beavers outrebounded the Bluejays 39-34 and outscored Elmhurst in the paint 50-36.

Thomas led the way for the Bluejays with 18 points, shooting 8-of-15 from the floor while pulling down four rebounds. Johnson added 14 points while Jay Militello totaled 13 points and seven rebounds. Rhode finished the night with 12 points, eight assists and seven steals. Dominc Genco added eight points for the Bluejays.

Michael Demers paced Buena Vista in the loss, totaling a game-high 26 points while shooting 10-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-6 from downtown. Jake Thompson added 14 points while Zane Neubaum added 13 for the Beavers.

Elmhurst travels to Calvin College on Wednesday, December 1.