STORM LAKE, Iowa (February 1, 2021) - All five starters scored in double figures for Buena Vista on Monday night, as the team made 12 shots from long range, but the Beavers came up short inside of Siebens Fieldhouse against Loras, 89-73.

It was a tight back-and0forth game throughout the entire first half.  The Duhawks led by as many as seven early on but the Beavers held things in check and eventually came back and took a 28-26 lead following a pair of made free-throws from Jake Thompson.  Loras, however, responded and went on a spurt to build an 39-31 advantage with 2:23 left in the half.  BVU, which was held to only 35.5 percent shooting from the field in the period was able to keep it close and trailed only 41-34 at the break.

A three-pointer from senior Michael Demers early in the second half pulled the Beavers within 45-43 with less than three minutes gone by, but that proved to be as close as the team could get the rest of the way.  It was still a four-point game with 12:00 to play before the Duhawks began to extend the margin.  The deficit grew to double-digits for the first time at 61-51 midway through.  The Beavers tried to rally late, getting as close as 72-64 on a long distance make from freshman Zane Neubaum with 5:23 left, but couldn't inch any closer down the stretch.  Loras made all six free-throw attempts in the closing minutes with the final score being its largest lead of the contest.

Neubaum led the way for BVU, scoring 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including a pair of makes from beyond the arc.  Fellow freshman Michael Santich made a career-high four from distance and totaled a career-best 12 points, to go along with a career-best six assists.  Thompson, Demers and Garret Sittner each added 11 points with Thompson also grabbing a team-high six rebounds.

Buena Vista finished the game shooting a season-low 40.9 percent from the field, including 12-of-38 from three-point range.  Loras, meanwhile, went 32-of-60 overall (53.3 percent) and outscored the Beavers in the paint, 42-22.  Rowan McGowen led all scorers with 25 points for the Duhawks which improve to 3-1 overall (1-0 A-R-C).

The Beavers (2-1, 2-1 A-R-C) will look to get back into the win column on Wednesday night (Feb. 3) when Nebraska Wesleyan (0-0, 0-0 A-R-C) enters Siebens Fieldhouse for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.