Mt. Vernon, IA -- The Beloit College Men's Basketball team closed out their 2012-13 season with a 95-76 win at Cornell College on Saturday, erasing a bit of the disappointment of not seeing their season continue.
The win gave the Bucs a 12-11 final record, 10-8 in Midwest Conference play. The 12 wins are the most for the program since 2001-02 when the team went 13-10. That '01-02 season was also the last time the squad finished over .500. The ten wins in MWC play marked the first time since 1992-93 that Beloit finished with that many victories against the league.
Leading by two eight minutes into the opening half the Buccaneers went on an 8-0 run to increase their lead to ten at 24-14 with 8:34 left. Cornell came back to within 24-20 two minutes later but Beloit closed the half on a 14-4 run to lead 38-24 at the break.
Exploding out of the lockerroom with a 26-7 run the Bucs built a 64-37 lead with 12:08 left. But the Rams responded with a 30-15 run over the next seven minutes to pull back within 12 points with 5:28 remaining. But Beloit regained control and finished the game on a modest 14-9 run to add to their lead and keep CC at bay.
The Bucs shot 59.6% for the game, including 72.7% in the second half, while holding Cornell to 45% shooting.
Grant Henricksen, playing his final game for the Bucs, had a career-high 18 points and seven rebounds. Tyler Butke matched those totals of 18 and seven while James Lazarcik had 18 points and six boards. Ahmad Shamsid-Deen had ten points and seven assists while Chris Bremner dished out eight assists.
