February 4, 2005

Buccaneer men post victory in national spotlight

            BELOIT, Wis. – The Beloit College men’s basketball team made the most of its national television exposure on Thursday night as the Buccaneers defeated host Grinnell College 86-85. The game was telecast live on ESPN2 and was the first non-championship NCAA Division III game televised to a nationwide audience. The thrilling victory gave the 200-plus Buccaneer fans in attendance reason to celebrate as they stormed the court when the final horn sounded.
On Friday night, the Bucs lost at Monmouth 85-67. The Beloit men are now 8-12 overall and 5-8 in The Midwest Conference with three games to play.
On Thursday night at Grinnell in front of the ESPN2 cameras, the packed house, and the nationwide audience, junior Josh Hinz (Fort Atkinson, Wis.) moved into the No. 4 spot on the all-time Beloit College scoring list as he netted 30 points. He connected on 11-of-20 shots and 8-of-9 free throws to move past 1949 graduate Johnny Orr. Hinz has 1,376 career points and is five points out of third place on the all-time list. Sophomore Nick Hendry (Essex Junction, Vt.) added 21 points by sinking 7-of-10 shots and 7-of-9 free throws. Hendry also made the game-winning shot as his short jumper with three seconds to play put Beloit on top 86-85 and were the game’s final points. Senior Manny Fergus (San Antonio, Texas) chipped in with 11 points. Beloit sank 59 percent of its shots during the game, making 30-of-51. The Bucs also drilled 26-of-38 free throws. They did not need to attempt a three-pointer.
Beloit also played tenacious defense as it limited the high-scoring Pioneer offense to 85 points. Grinnell came into the game averaging 110 points per game, but the Bucs kept up the pressure and allowed the hosts to make only 29 percent of their shots, 28-of-96, including a paltry 13-of-52 three-pointers.
Beloit led 39-38 at halftime and both teams scored 47 points after the intermission.
As it does every game, Grinnell came out firing and led 10-2 after the first 2½ minutes of play. The Bucs scored the game’s next nine points, however, and a three-point play by junior Derek Allen (Evansville, Wis.) gave the guests an 11-10 lead with 15:05 left in the first half. The Pioneers scored four in a row to lead 14-11, but layups by Fergus and Hinz put the Bucs back on top at 15-14 at the 14:03 mark. Beloit would never trail again in the first half. Two free throws by Fergus with 6:31 remaining in the period gave the Bucs their largest lead of the half at 32-22. Grinnell fought back and closed to within 39-38 at halftime.
After the break, Beloit built its lead back to nine as a Fergus layup at the 14:40 mark made it a 56-47 game. Grinnell tied the score at 66-66 with 7:18 to play, but the Bucs maintained control until the 3:32 mark when the Pioneers took their first lead since early in the game at 79-78. The lead went back and forth from then on and the Pioneers led 84-82 with 1:28 left on the clock. Hinz drilled a pair of free throws to knot the score at 84-all at the 1:16 mark before Grinnell made a free throw with 38 ticks left to give it an 85-84 edge. Hendry canned his game-winning shot with three ticks remaining, and the Pioneers missed a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer.
The victory completed a season sweep for the Buccaneer men. They posted a 118-116 triumph over the Pioneers in Beloit on Jan. 14.
On Friday night, Monmouth came out with the hot hand as it built an early advantage and then maintained it in posting the 85-67 victory. The Scots scored the first eight points and led 20-6 at the 13:32 mark of the first half before Beloit started to come back. A Fergus layup at the 6:18 mark cut Monmouth’s lead to single digits at 35-26, and a pair of free throws by sophomore Matt Fieck (Appleton, Wis.) brought the Bucs to within six at 38-32. A pair of Hinz free throws closed the books on the first half with the Bucs training by that same six-point margin, 43-37.
In the second half, the Scots again came out on fire and quickly built their advantage to 57-39 with five minutes gone in the period. Beloit again battled back and trimmed the deficit to eight when Allen sank a jumper at the 8:35 mark to make it a 66-58 game. But the Bucs could get no closer as Monmouth built its lead to 20 toward the closing stages of the contest.
Hinz led Beloit with 20 points while Allen netted 14 and Hendry 11. Hinz and Hendry both grabbed nine rebounds. The Bucs connected on 43 percent of their shots, making 26-of-60. Monmouth made 28-of-60 for 47 percent. The Scots outscored the Bucs 39-3 from three-point range.
With the three games remaining, Hinz has scored 404 points this fall for a 20.2 average. He needs the five points to move into third place on the all-time scoring list and needs 115 to reach the No. 2 spot. Hendry is next on the scoring chart with a 13.7 average while junior Danny Towns (Edgerton, Wis.) and Allen are netting 10.9 and 10 points per game, respectively.