The Buena Vista men's basketball team couldn't hang onto an eight-point halftime lead on Sunday afternoon, as Gustavus Adolphus handed the Beavers a tough 97-90 setback in what was a make-up game that was previously scheduled for November 20.

BVU was strong in the outset, shooting 65 percent from the field in the opening half, including 6-of-10 from downtown and 9-of-10 at the free-throw line.  The Gusties held an early 15-8 lead before a layup from sophomore Thomas Wisecup sparked a 21-7 run over the next five minutes to put the Beavers in front 29-22 with nine minutes left.

The game was tight for most of the half from there, until BVU went on a late surge and built its largest lead of 11 when Sam Lipps, who scored a career-high 17 points in the contest, made a bucket to make it 50-39 with 2:14 left in the half.  The Beavers then took a 53-45 lead into the half.

The Gusties stormed out of the gate to start the second 20 minutes, clawing all the way back to tie things up at 55-55 less than three minutes in.  The two teams went back-and-forth for awhile before Gustavus built an 82-72 led with 8:00 to play. 

The Gusties maintained that lead over the next six minutes until a 9-0 run by BVU got the Beavers back within a basket at 92-90 with 2:08 left.  BVU, however, went cold down the stretch, missing their final three shots and turning the ball over twice which allowed Gustavus to get to the free-throw line and eventually run out the clock.

Despite going 0-of-6 from three-point land, senior Nick Clark still finished 7-of-19 overall from the field and 5-of-6 at the free-throw line to score a team-high 19 points.  He also dished out five assists and added two steals.

Wisecup, who's three-point made it a two-point game late, followed with a career-best 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting.  Lipps made a trio fo three-point shots and went 6-of-10 from the field overall.  Sean Morgan also hit double figured with 13 points while hauling in a team-high seven rebounds.

BVU finished the game at 55 percent shooting from the field and 20-of-24 at the free-throw line.

Gary Cooper turned in a game-high 20 points to go along with six rebounds to help lead Gustavus, which improves to 2-1 overall.

Buena Vista dips to 0-4 on the year with all four losses coming by seven points or less.  The Beavers will look to get into the win column next weekend when they travel to the state of Wisconsin for a game at UW-Eau Claire on December 4 at 7:00pm followed by a 4:00pm tip-off at UW-Stout on December 5.