STORM LAKE, Iowa (Nov. 12, 2022) - The Buena Vista men's basketball team tips-off its 2022-23 campaign with a pair of games this weekend during the SLIAC/A-R-C Challenge, hosted this season by Simpson College. BVU faces Westminster College in the first game on Saturday night at 6 p.m.

MATCH-UPS
Nov. 12 | Buena Vista (0-0) vs. Westminster College (Mo.) (0-0) | Indianola, Iowa | 6 p.m. | WATCH | LIVE STATS
Nov. 13 | Buena Visa (0-0) vs. Fontbonne University (0-0) | Indianola, Iowa | 1 p.m. | WATCH | LIVE STATS

ABOUT BUENA VISTA
The Beavers are in action for the first time since losing in the American Rivers Conference Tournament Championship to the University of Dubuque to end last season. BVU finished the year 15-12 (11-5 A-R-C) and earned the No. 2 seed into the tournament. As it heads into the start of the 2022-23 campaign, the team looks to replace six seniors from a year ago, including all-conference performers Michael Demers, Jake Thompson and Garrett Sittner. Despite the losses, the Beavers do still return three starters from last year's squad. Headlining the returning starters will be junior Zane Neubaum. Neubaum enters the season a two-time Second Team All-Conference selection. He finished last season strong recording 20+ points in each of the final three contests while shooting 9-of-17 from downtown in those games. He finished eighth in the league in scoring during conference play at 14.0ppg while recording a career-high in points with a 32-point effort during the semifinal victory over Coe College. Also returning will be junior Michael Santich and sophomore Simon Daniel. Santich appeared in all 27 games for the Beavers, averaging 7.4 points, 3.0 rebounds,  2.8 assists while shooting .470 from the field. This year's team might be one of the deepest teams that head coach Trevor Johnson has had. The team has added seven freshman and multiple transfers to the roster, to compete with eight returning sophomores. Buena Vista received one first-place vote in this year's A-R-C Preseason Coaches Poll and finished tied for third with Nebraska Wesleyan.

ROSTER | SCHEDULE/RESULTS | FINAL 2021-22 STATS

ABOUT WESTMINSTER
The Bluejays also tip-off their season this weekend during the SLIAC/A-R-C Challenge and are coming off a 10-16 season in 2021-22 which also included a 6-8 mark during conference play. It fell to Webster, 80-66, during the quarterfinal round of the SLIAC Tournament to end the season after having won four of its final five regular season contests, which included a 20-point win over Webster. Six of the top seven point scorers from last year's team were seniors with Jaxson Althaus the top returning scorer at 15.1ppg. Junior Tre Kempker was right behind at 11.4 and was the last player to average in double-figures, for a team that put up an average of 74.5ppg. It shot 45 percent from the field and knocked down 6.3 long-range buckets per contest while shooting just shy of 33 percent from beyond the arc. Althaus is the top-returning assist man at 2.8apg and the top-returning rebounder at 5.5rpg. Defensively as a team, the Bluejays grabbed 33.7 rebounds per night while opponents snatched 35.7rpg and scored 77.5ppg.

ROSTER | SCHEDULE & RESULTS | FINAL 2021-22 STATS

ABOUT FONTBONNE
The Griffins look to kep momentum going this season after going 17-7 in 2021-22, including a stellar 12-2 record in league play, en route to the program's first outright conference title since 1994. The Griffins were the top pick to win the 2022-23 title by their conference coaches this season. The team closed last season with a tough 81-80 loss to Webster in the SLIAC Tournament Semifinal game. It will look to replace the league's Defensive Player of the Year in Anthony Jones this season after he averaged 5.1 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 0.4 blocks per game in 2021-22 while also finishing third on the team in scoring at 13.4ppg. Despite the loss of Jones, the Griffins do return SLIAC All-Conference First Team selections in Caden Clark and Elijah Rice. Clark averaged  career-high 15.5 points per game while Rice turned in just over 15.0ppg and shot nearly 49 percent from the field. As a team, Fontbonne averaged 85.6ppg and shot nearly 47 percent from the field. It made 5.1 long-range buckets per contest while shooting at a 31 percent clip. The Griffins also welcome back Brent Wagner who's a threat from beyond-the-arc connecting on 36.6 percent of his attempts, to go along with his 11.4 point per game average. A total of 14 new faces also join the program this season.

ROSTER | SCHEDULE & RESULTS | FINAL 2021-22 STATS

UP NEXT: Following the two games during this weekend's SLIAC/A-R-C Challenge, Buena Vista will travel to Collegeville, Minn., on Nov. 16, to play at Saint John's University (Minn.) at 7 p.m.