Senior guard Darin Empereur posted a career-high 25 points to lead the Beloit College men's basketball team to their first win of the season Saturday evening with an 80-70 victory at Wisconsin Lutheran College. 

The end of the game was closer than the final score suggests as the Warriors were able to whittle away a 22-point Bucs' lead to four with two minutes to play. Beloit's advantage grew gradually at the start of the game and then the Bucs really began pulling away toward the end of the first half. Empereur hit the final bucket of the first 20 minutes to give Beloit a 49-30 lead at intermission. 

The Bucs shot 56-percent from the floor (15-27), 53-percent from three-point range (9-17) and 83-percent (10-12) from the free throw line in the first half. Beloit also enjoyed a 20-9 advantage on the boards and a 10-0 sway in second chance points. 

Beloit's lead swelled to as much as 23 in the second half before late turnovers and fouls became costly. The Warriors chipped away using a 10-0 run late in the second half to cut the Buc lead to four with less than two minutes to play. Beloit leaned on Empereur, who had the steady hand for the Bucs all game, for the final minutes and the senior got the job done on both ends of the floor. 

On the offensive end, Empereur knocked down a beautiful fadeaway jumper in the paint to push the lead back to six, then pulled down a huge defensive rebound with a minute to go. The Bucs took their time running down the shot clock and Mason Jones chased down a rebound on a missed three to give the Bucs 20 more seconds and force Wisconsin Lutheran to foul. Michael Polakoski hit both from the charity stripe to make it 78-70 with 27 seconds left. 

Once again, Empereur grabbed the defensive board and was immediately fouled. He hit both free throws to push the lead back into double figures, 80-70, and seal the win for Beloit. 

The Bucs ended up shooting 49-percent (24-49) from the floor, 39-percent (10-26) and 76-percent (22-29) from the free throw line in the game. The Warriors shot 44-percent (23-52), 31-percent (5-16) and 83-percent (19-23) from the charity stripe. The Warriors, averaging 98.3 points and 44.7 rebounds per game coming into the contest, were held to 70 points by Beloit's defense and were out-rebounded by the active Bucs on the glass 40-23 in the game. 

Empereur's 25 points were bolstered by a 3-8 performance from beyond the arc and 6-7 from the free throw line. He added a game-high nine rebounds and a team-high five assists. Tristan Shoup tallied 16 points on 5-7 from the floor and added eight rebounds. Dan Babb joined the double digit point club with 10 in the game. 

The Bucs will be back in action Tuesday, November 26 hosting Rockford for Beloit's home-opener. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.