LINCOLN, Neb. (December 4, 2019) - Buena Vista was looking to remain perfect on the season as it opened up American Rivers Conference play at No. 6 Nebraska Wesleyan but the Beavers were hampered by a cold shooting night from long range as well as foul trouble from the opening tip, and the Prairie Wolves were able to escape with a 78-65 victory inside of Snyder Arena.

BVU finished the game just 9-of-39 from beyond the arc (23.1 percent) and shot only 38 percent from the field overall.  It came into the game averaging nearly 22 free-throw attempts per contest and were able to get to the line just seven times all night (5-of-7).  The Prairie Wolves, however made 25-of-26 at charity stripe.

Foul trouble hampered the team's effectiveness for most of the game.  Noah Schmitt picked up a pair of fouls less than two minutes into the contest and BVU had seven fouls before the game was seven minutes old.  Timothy Jeffries and Dominic Sesma each picked up their second fouls midway through the period forcing the Beavers to get production from their bench.  DJ McNeal stepped up and scored 12 of his team-high 14 points in the period, and the Beavers led 32-31 before the Prairie Wolves rolled off four straight points in the closing seconds to take a 35-32 lead into the half.

Neither team was able to produce any sort of run until NWU ran off 14 straight points while holding BVU scoreless for nearly eight minutes to begin the second half and build a 17-point cushion at 53-36.

Lincoln Rock connected on one of his three long range buckets to get the team back within striking distance at 57-46 midway through the second stanza.  A foul and then a technical foul were called on the Beavers moments later and the Prairie Wolves made all four free-throws to quickly push their lead back to 15 with 9:39 left.

It was back-and-forth by both teams for nearly the next eight minutes before BVU was able to run off five straight points to get as close as 11 with just under a minute left.  The Beavers had a chance to cut it to single digits and make things interesting down the stretch but came up empty on a three-point attempt, and a pair of made free-throws by Nebraska Wesleyan, slid its lead back up to 13 for the game's final margin.

McNeal was 6-of-17 from the field for BVU with Sesma going 2-of-7 from long distance and following right behind McNeal at 12 points.  Brendan Gary also joined McNeal off the bench and reached double digits with 11 points while matching Michael Demers for a team-best seven rebounds.

The Beavers turned the ball over a season-high 23 times and were out-rebounded 43-38.

Four players scored in double figures for Nebraska Wesleyan (8-1, 1-0 A-R-C), led by Nate Schimonitz's game-high 26.  The Beavers held NWU to only 39 percent shooting overall and just 20 percent from long range, but the Prairie Wolves did hold a 38-24 advantage in points in the paint.

Buena Vista is now 8-1 overall (0-1 A-R-C) and will look to bounce back on Saturday afternoon when Wartburg College comes to Siebens Fieldhouse for a 4 p.m. tip-off.  The Knights are 3-5 (0-1 A-R-C) and have dropped five straight following a 92-79 road loss at Central in their conference opener on Wednesday.