Buena Vista had eight players finish in double figures and shot an even 50 percent from the field in the contest, but it was visiting Nebraska Wesleyan who went on a 12-2 run over the final 1:24 to hand the Beavers a tough 109-104 loss in the season opener inside of Siebens Fieldhouse.

The Beavers came into the game with only one player that had a career start under his belt after it lost seven seniors to graduation following last year.  The lack of varsity experience didn't slow down BVU as it went up against a team that averaged over 92 points per game a year ago.

Senior Bobby Ivey led the way with a career-high 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field.  He also made all six free-throw attempts and chipped in with two assists, two steals and two rebounds.  Sophomore Robby Burke added a career-best 13 points and nine rebounds and went 7-of-8 at the charity stripe.  Fellow sophomore Adam Juhl also turned in 13 points and hauled in six boards.  He made a team-high eight free-throws and had one of the team's five made three-point buckets.

Senior Nick Clark turned in a double-double with 11 points and a career-high 11 assists to go along with three steals.  Junior Sean Morgan also chimed in with 11 points while grabbing eight rebounds, as Sam Lipps also scored 11.

Sophomore Thomas Wisecup also made his first career start and went 5-of-8 from the field and finished with 10 points and three assists.  Zach Martinson came off the bench and scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds in 13 minutes.

Buena Vista built its largest lead of the first half at 22-14 with 12:13 remaining.  Five straight points by the Prairie Wolves quickly erased that deficit and made it a 22-21 contest.    The game was briefly tied at 24-24, but BVU never gave up the lead until NWU sank a pair of free-throws with 48 seconds left to go in front 47-45.  Juhl then made two free-throws of his own for BVU followed by a layup just before the buzzer from Ivey to give the Beavers a 49-47 halftime lead.

The Prairie Wolves, who finished 13-13 overall (10-10 GPAC) a season ago, used a 7-0 run out of the gate to start the second half and take a 54-49 lead.  They then took their largest lead of the contest at 60-51 after making one of their 15 three-point buckets.

BVU would weather the storm and claw back within 64-60 at the 13:07 mark.  The lead went back to nine at 69-60, but Clark would hit his only three-pointer of the game as Burke sank to free-throws to get the Beavers back within four.

Clark then brought BVU within a point with a layup at the 9:11 mark, and the game was nearly back-and-forth over the next four minutes. 

Ivey put the team back in front at 81-80 when he stepped in an intercepted a pass near the top of the key and sprinted down the floor before finishing with a two-handed dunk.

Burke sank two more free-throws with 4:45 left to put BVU in front 95-87.  The lead was still seven at 99-92 with 3:01 left before Nick Stine hit a big three-point shot for NWU with 2:30 on the clock.

Clark's jumper with 1:24 left made it a 102-97 lead for the Beavers, but as they did all game long, the Prairie Wolves answered, getting another big three-pointer to cut their deficit down to two.  They would take their first lead since the 8:19 mark with a bucket and free-throw with 45 seconds left.

After a missed jumper from Clark, NWU came away with the rebound and was fouled before sinking two free-throws and pushing the lead up to three.  Wisecup scored a layup with under 10 seconds left, but NWU went onto make free-throws down the stretch to put the game out of reach.

Trey Bardsley, an NAIA Honorable Mention All-America selection a year ago, turned in a game-high 37 points for Nebraska Wesleyan, whiel Travis Giesselmann followed with 31.  The Prairie Wolves had only four players score more than four points.

A big difference in the game was the three-point shooting, as NWU (1-1) held a 15-5 advantage in shots made from downtown.

The two teams combined for 76 free-throw attempts and each shot better than 73 percent as a team from the charity stripe.  Buena Vista finished the game making 35-of-70 shots from the field (50 percent), including 52.9 percent over the final 20 minutes.

The Buena Vista bench outscored NWU, 26-7.

Next up for BVU (0-1) is a non-conference game at Gustavus Adolphus on November 20.  Tip-off at St. Peter, Minn., is scheduled for 8:00pm.