The Beloit College men's basketball team was unable to overcome a first half deficit in a 79-67 loss to Wisconsin Lutheran College Wednesday night in Flood Arena.

The Warriors came out with the hot hand in the first half shooting 52-percent from the floor and 43-percent (6-14) from long range while the Buccaneers struggled from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes.

WLC jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead and pushed the margin to 11, 21-10, with just over 12 minutes left in the half when the Bucs started to mount a comeback. Andrew Walters sparked the offensive burst with six points, three rebounds and two assists in less than four minutes to bolster a 13-5 run that pulled Beloit to within one, 26-25.

The Warriors responded with a 10-0 spurt to push the lead back into double digits but Walters hit the final field goal of the half to cut the lead to 41-32 as the teams headed for the lockerrooms.

The Bucs held a 20-4 advantage in scoring in the paint and 12-5 gap in points off turnovers but the three-point percentage made the difference.

WLC led by as much as 18 early in the second half when Darin Empereur took over the Bucs' offense. Empereur hit five of the next six shots for Beloit, all from beyond the arc, over a four-and-a-half-minute span to pull the Bucs to within nine, 61-52.

A three-point play from Tristan Shoup on a sweeping lay-in cut the deficit to eight with 7:25 remaining but that's as close as the Bucs would come.

Empereur led Beloit with 17 points bolstered by the five from long range and led all players with five steals. Shoup tallied 15 points on 7-12 from the floor and added six boards. Walters notched the double-double dropping in 14 points and pulling in 10 boards while adding a game high four assists.

The Bucs will head to Minnesota to take on Macalester College Saturday at 1 p.m. before returning to Flood Arena November 20 for a 7 p.m. matchup with Marian University.