Beloit College issued the following announcement on Nov. 15
The Beloit College men's basketball team treated the fans to a thriller in Flood Arena Monday for the squad's home opener. The fast-paced contest was jam-packed with excitement, especially coming down the stretch, but the Buccaneers fell shy of erasing a first half deficit in an 80-73 loss to Wisconsin Lutheran College.
The Warriors shot nearly 50-percent from the floor in the first half knocking down three more triples than Beloit to take a 40-28 lead into intermission. The Bucs shot just under 45-percent in the half hitting 12-27 but went 0-3 from downtown.
The Bucs chipped away at the Warriors' lead cutting it to single digits on a Scotty Olsen three-pointer with 12:41 to go that made it 53-44. Just over 30 seconds later, Andrew Walters found Olsen who drilled another from downtown to put the Bucs within six, 53-47. WLC pushed the advantage back to nine but Olsen came right back with his third triple in two minutes, this time off a Mylan Walters assist to make it 56-50 with just over half the period left.
The lead fluctuated between six and nine until Walters (Mylan) registered the takeaway and found Michael Polakoski up ahead for a fastbreak layup to pull Beloit within five, 63-58 with eight minutes remaining.
A 13-7 Warriors run had the lead back into double figures 76-65 with under two to go when the Bucs put the pressure on once again. The Walters teamed up for a triple with Andrew assisting Mylan. Then Polakoski cashed in with a fastbreak bucket from long range off a Mylan Walters assist and in less than a minute the deficit was down to five, 76-71.
Forced to foul down the stretch, WLC dropped in one on the double bonus but Andrew Walters came back on the other end with a nifty shot through two defenders that just beat the shot clock buzzer before banking in to make it a four-point game, 77-73, with 34 seconds to go. Beloit just ran out of time as the Warriors were able to seal the win in the final seconds from the charity stripe.
Beloit outscored WLC 45-40 in the second half shooting 50-percent from the floor and 50-percent (8-16) from downtown. The Bucs' defense held the Warriors to a lower shooting percentage than the first 20 minutes but the difference came from the freethrow line where WLC was 19-28 and Beloit just 7-9.
Dae'Quan Davis led Beloit with 13 points on 6-7 from the field and he knocked down his lone three-pointer of the evening. Polakoski wound up with 12 on the night. Olsen added 11 points, all coming in the second half, on 3-5 from long range. Andrew Walters was a workhorse on both sides of the ball with 11 points and a team-high nine rebounds while Mylan Walters tallied a team high five assists and two steals. Two of Azeez Ganiyu's three buckets in the game were some of the most exciting, a two-handed jam over a defender in the first half. He one-upped himself in the second, with a putback slam on a missed layin that had the Beloit faithful erupting.
The Bucs continue their non-conference slate Monday, November 22 on the road at Marian University before returning to the Flood Saturday, November 28 to host Finlandia in the team's final game before conference play opens.
Original source can be found here.
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