Tharp earned career victory No. 152 to make him the winningest coach in the program’s history. He was tied with Art Denney, who had a career record of 151-159 during two decades of coaching from the mid-1920s to mid-1940s. Tharp, is his 11th season at Lawrence, has a career record of 152-93.
Braier, a junior from Wauwatosa, became Lawrence’s career rebounding leader. He entered the game with 730 rebounds, one shy of the mark of 731, set by Brad Childs from 1966-69. Braier pulled down 12 rebounds and has 742 for his career. He is on pace to become the first player in Lawrence history to score 1,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds.
The Vikings (6-2, 1-1 MWC), ranked 10th in the D3hoops.com poll, led by as many as 14 points in the first half, but Beloit stormed back to trim the lead to five at the half. Beloit kept it close throughout the second half and took its last lead, 60-59, on Nick Hendry’s two free throws with 3:11 left.
Braier’s jumper at 2:24 put Lawrence head to stay at 61-60. He hit another jumper at 1:07 to put Lawrence up by three, and the Bucs (4-7, 1-3) were later forced to foul. Lawrence hit 5 of 6 free throws in the final 31 seconds, including 4 of 4 by Dan Evans, to seal the win.
Evans finished with a team-high 15 points and was 11 of 12 from the free-throw line. Braier added 12 points to go with his game-high 12 rebounds. Andy Hurley added 11 points and Kyle MacGillis had 10. Josh Hinz led Beloit with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
The Vikings are back in action Tuesday at home against St. Norbert College.