ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst men's basketball team could not overcome a cold shooting night, as the Bluejays stumbled in the second half in a 74-66 loss to Buena Vista University.
 
Elmhurst (5-3) led by nine at halftime, but Buena Vista (6-2) exploded in the second half, shooting 64.7 percent from the floor while outscoring the Bluejays 56-39 in the game's final 20 minutes.
 
Elmhurst built a 27-18 lead at the break after both teams endured cold stretches in the opening half. Leading 11-9 six minutes into the contest, the Bluejays used a 10-1 run over the next seven minutes as Buena Vista went ice cold from the floor. The Beavers missed nine straight shots while Elmhurst built an 11-point lead with nine minutes left. Buena Vista cut the lead down to six with back-to-back buckets, but the Beavers could not come any closer as Elmhurst endured a cold spell, missing nine straight shots. Four straight free throws and a tip-in from Payton Sampson gave Elmhurst a 12-point lead with just 30 seconds left in the half. Buena Vista ended a 5:30 scoreless streak just before the buzzer with a Thomas Wisecup three-pointer, cutting the Elmhurst lead down to nine in the process. Elmhurst shot just 27.8 percent (10-of-36) in the half while the Beavers were held to just 19.4 percent (6-of-31) shooting, including 15.8 percent (3-of-19) from three-point range. Elmhurst dominated the inside game in the first 20 minutes, outrebounding the Beavers 33-19 and outscoring the Beavers 16-4 in the paint.
 
After scoring just one field goal in the final nine minutes of the first half, the Bluejays struggles continued at the start of the second. Elmhurst missed its first six shots of the second half while Buena Vista opened with an 11-2 run to pull even just 4:30 into the half. Elmhurst answered back with seven straight points to move back in front, but Buena Vista responded with eight straight points, taking its first lead of the game after back-to-back three-pointers from Billy Sparks. The Beavers pushed their lead up to six with just under 10 minutes remaining, but the Bluejays ripped off the next seven points over the next 90 seconds, retaking the lead on a Lavon Thomas jumper.
 
After the Beavers went back on front a three-point play from Matt Goodman, Thomas tied the contest at 48-all with a layup. Buena Vista exploded over the next two minutes, using a 12-3 run to open up a nine-point cushion with just over six minutes remaining. The Beavers built an 11-point cushion with 4:30 left before Elmhurst mounted one last rally. A 7-0 run fueled by a three-point play from Colin Bomstad and a three-pointer from Jake Rhode sliced the deficit down to just four points with 2:30 remaining.

Canyon Hopkins took over down the stretch for the Beavers, scoring the team's next seven points to push the Beaver's lead back to nine with 45 seconds left. A Jeremy Ireland three-pointer cut the lead back to six, but a pair of David Jeffries free throws sealed the win for the Beavers.
 
Buena Vista hit 22-of-34 shots in the second half, to finish the contest shooting 43.1 percent (28-of-65). The Beavers hit 6-of-11 three-pointers in the second half (54.5 percent) to raise their percentage to 30 (9-of-30) for the contest. Buena Vista turned the tables on Elmhurst in the second half, outscoring Elmhurst 32-16 in the paint and outrebounding the Bluejays 22-14. The Beavers took advantage of Elmhurst missed shots to score in transition, finishing with 21 points on the fast break in the second half.
 
Ryan Patton led Elmhurst in the loss with 14 points. Thomas added nine points while Bomstad gave the Bluejays a spark off the bench, scoring nine points in nine minutes. Ireland added seven points while Rhode finished with six points and seven rebounds. Justin Fox collected a team-high eight rebounds in the loss.
 
Hopkins paced Buena Vista with 17 points and seven rebounds. Sparks came off the bench to score 12 while Timothy Jeffries scored nine.
 
Elmhurst travels to Benedictine University on Thursday, December 21.