Written by BVU Sports Info Intern, Jordan Henningsen

The Buena Vista men's basketball team saw its season-best seven-game win streak snapped on Saturday with a 66-64 loss at Luther College. Despite the loss, the Beavers clinched a conference tournament spot and stay atop the IIAC standings heading into tonight's conference matchup with Wartburg College (13-8, 6-4 IIAC) at 8:00 p.m. inside Siebens Fieldhouse.

BVU fought until the end in the thrilling matchup against the Norse last Saturday before falling on a shot made with five seconds left. In an impressive showing against Loras College last week, the Beavers shot 56.3% from 3-point range. However they could not continue this performance over Luther shooting only 16.0% from the arc, making just 4-of-25. This statistic ultimately affected their traditionally strong offensive presence, as they lead the conference as a team with an average of 80.8 points per game.

The Knights head into tonight's game with a three-game winning streak and a thrilling 64-63 win against Loras College last week under their belt. Wartburg ranks second in the conference with points allowed per game (65.4), while BVU ranks eighth (75.2).

Despite struggling on the defensive end at times this season, the Beavers have been consistently impressive offensively. BVU has three players who average in double-digits, contributing to BVU's well-rounded offensive threat. Senior Cole Darrow leads the way with 14.6 points per game, followed by point guard Nick Clark (13.7ppg). Sophomore Kennedy Drey also contributes significantly on the offensive end (13.0ppg), as well as leading the Beavers on the boards with 9.3 rebounds per game. He leads the conference in rebounding during league play and is one of only two players averaging a double-double during IIAC games.

Similarly, the Knights also have three players averaging double-digits on the season: Jordan Cannon (14.9ppg), Clay Cook (12.8ppg), and Nick Webber (11.7ppg). Cannon ranks fifth among all scorers in the conference, edging the Beaver's Darrow who sits at sixth. Wartburg's Cook also ranks fourth in rebounding (9.2 rbg) just behind Drey.

BVU had an 18-point lead heading into the final two minutes of its meeting with Wartburg earlier this season in Waverly before the Knights trimmed that lead down to three late before BVU made free-throws in the closing seconds to hang on, 82-76.

Buena Vista has won five straight over Wartburg, and a win tonight would secure the team at least a home game to begin the Iowa Conference Tournament.

The Beavers (15-6, 8-2 IIAC) have won eight straight games at home this season, and a ninth straight tonight would keep the team alone in first place by at least one game over Coe and Dubuque with three regular season games remaining.