The first half was closely fought, with eight lead changes in the first ten minutes. Cornell won the first half battle by shooting 16 of 27 (59%) from the field and 5 of 9 (56%) from behind the arc.
The Buena Vista team that hit the court to start the second half was not the same team that left it 15 minutes earlier. The defense was ferocious, forcing Cornell to the final seconds before the shot clock buzzer sounded more than once. Buena Vista regained the lead by going on a 15-4 run. Cornell came within reach, down 49-48 with 12 minutes to go. Buena Vista slammed the door shut on any of Cornell’s hopes by putting together a decisive 18-2 run.
The Beavers were led by Andre Wagner with 15 points, Brian Fogleman with 12, and Matt Wittry with 11 points. Jesse Schmidt led in rebounds, grabbing seven boards. Playing hard defense, Buena Vista also shot well, making 19 of 32 (59%) second-half shots to end the evening 30 of 56 (54%) from the field. BVU held a 37-26 rebounding advantage.
This victory bumps Buena Vista to 5-4 in the conference and 7-11 overall. The loss sets Cornell back to 1-8 in the conference and 2-16 overall.
Buena Vista gets back into action on February 1st, facing Central College in Pella, Iowa. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.
Cornell College vs Buena Vista University 01/28/06 6:00 pm at Storm Lake, IA BUENA VISTA UNIVERSITY 81, CORNELL COLLEGE 59 CORNELL COLLEGE (2-16, 1-8 IIAC) TIERNEY, Michael 6-9 2-2 15; BECKER, Forrest 5-12 0-0 12; ECKER, Jeff 5-8 0-0 12; BYRNS, Ray 3-9 0-0 7; LaDEW, Griffin 2-7 0-0 5; WENDT, Cameron 2-2 0-0 4; LEWIS, Matt 1-2 0-0 2; BITTER, Jeff 1-2 0-0 2; VANDEN HEUVEL, Cole 0-1 0-0 0; PETERNEL, Andrew 0-2 0-0 0; KORN, Casey 0-0 0-0 0; YOUNGBLOOD, Josh 0-2 0-0 0; HAGEN, Ben 0-0 0-0 0; SHELMAN, Brandan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-56 2-2 59. BUENA VISTA UNIVERSITY (7-11, 5-4 IIAC) WAGNER, Andre 5-11 1-2 15; FOGLEMAN, Brian 6-12 0-3 12; WITTRY, Matt 3-4 3-3 11; JOEKEL, Mark 3-3 0-0 8; FRANCIC, Nesha 3-6 1-2 7; SCHMIDT, Jesse 2-2 3-4 7; FRANKLIN, Rahn 3-8 1-2 7; GRIMM, Nolan 2-3 0-0 5; METZ, Sean 2-2 0-0 5; PERSON, Travis 1-3 0-0 3; BISSEN, Jeff 0-1 1-2 1; MORGAN, Casey 0-1 0-0 0; GRAY, KJ 0-0 0-0 0; HOLTON, Eric 0-0 0-0 0; CLEVELAND, Matt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-56 10-18 81. Cornell College............... 39 20 - 59 Buena Vista University........ 32 49 - 81 3-point goals-Cornell College 7-19 (ECKER, Jeff 2-2; BECKER, Forrest 2-5; TIERNEY, Michael 1-2; BYRNS, Ray 1-4; LaDEW, Griffin 1-3; VANDEN HEUVEL, Cole 0-1; PETERNEL, Andrew 0-1; YOUNGBLOOD, Josh 0-1), Buena Vista University 11-21 (WAGNER, Andre 4-8; JOEKEL, Mark 2-2; WITTRY, Matt 2-3; GRIMM, Nolan 1-2; METZ, Sean 1-1; PERSON, Travis 1-2; BISSEN, Jeff 0-1; FRANKLIN, Rahn 0-2). Fouled out--Cornell College-None, Buena Vista University-None. Rebounds-Cornell College 26 (HAGEN, Ben 5), Buena Vista University 37 (SCHMIDT, Jesse 7). Assists-Cornell College 10 (WENDT, Cameron 3), Buena Vista University 16 (WITTRY, Matt 3; HOLTON, Eric 3). Total fouls-Cornell College 14, Buena Vista University 9. A-1300