La Crosse, Wis. - Bemidji State University used a 40-8 run to open the second half and surge past Viterbo University 69-44 in the Viterbo Pepsi Invitational Championship Game.

Trailing 24-23 at halftime, the Beavers of Bemidji State University came out firing to open the second half as they scored the first ten points. Patrick Cassidy sparked the run with two field goals and a three point field goal. Viterbo would cut their deficit to 42-30 on a jumper by Scott Buschman (Sr. - Naperville, Ill.). But that would be as close as the V-Hawks would get as the Beavers scored 21 of the next 25 points to take its largest lead of the game at 63-34.

The first half was a much different story for the V-Hawks as they led for much of it. With the game tied at nine, Viterbo went on a mini 7-1 run to take a 17-10 lead with 7:45 remaining in the half. BSU responded right away with three straight baskets to tie the game at 17. Senior Eric Ambrose (Twin Lakes, Wis.) would give the V-Hawks a 24-21 lead with 8 seconds left in the half but BSU would race down a get a jumper at the buzzer by Bryce Tesdahl to trail 24-23 at the break.

The V-Hawks had a balanced offensive attack as three of them finished in double figures. Eric Ambrose led the way with 11 points while Bushman and Jason Schumer (Jr. - Mauston, Wis.) chipped in 10 a piece. Seth Haake led the Beavers with 15 points and grabbed a game high 8 rebounds. After shooting 8-25 (32 %) in the first half as a team, BSU finished the game by shooting 47.3 % (26-55) from the floor. Viterbo finished the game 19-53 (35.8%) from the floor and was out rebounded 45-23.

The loss drops the V-Hawks to 2-4 on the season while the Beavers go to 2-0 on the year. Eric Ambrose and Buschman were named to the All-Pepsi Tournament team joining Jared Howerton from College of the Ozarks and Seth Haake from Bemidji State University. Bryce Tesdahl (BSU) was named Pepsi Invitation MVP while Alex Koeller (Fr. - Marshall, Wis.) was given the Pepsi Tournament Hustle Award. College of the Ozarks defeated Silver Lake College 74-64 in the Third Place Game.