STORM LAKE, Iowa (Nov. 19, 2022) - The Buena Vista men's basketball team tipped-off its home schedule on Saturday afternoon against No. 23 Elmhurst, but it was the Blujays pulling away over the final eight minutes of regulation en route to an 88-60 victory inside of Siebens Fieldhouse.

Elmhurst led 39-32 at the half and would come out of the break and use a quick 11-3 spurt to build a 15-point advantage. It later grew to 18 at 55-37 before BVU had pulled back within 11 and had the ball looking to get within single digits with just over eight minutes to play but came up empty on a layup attempt only to see Elmhurst come back down with a fastbreak layup that ignited a big 24-4 run over the next six minutes that made it an 82-53 contest with 2:19 to play.

Junior Zane Neubaum turned in a game-high 20 points for BVU, including a 9-of-10 effort at the chariy stripe. Simon Daniel and Michael Santich followed with nine points each with Daniel also recording three steals.

Both teams were at 40 percent from the field in the first half, but the Beavers dipped to 32 percent in the second while the Bluejays bumped up to 58 percent, including 7-of-9 from downtown. Buena Vista, which came in averaging nearly nine made three-point buckets per game, was held to 3-of-16 on the day from long distance.

The defending national runner-ups also held a big 47-25 edge on the glass, including a 16-6 mark on the offensive end. Jonathan Zapinski finished with 16 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. Tagen Pearson chalked up 20 points, including five of the team's 11 made three-point buckets.

Buena Vista drops to 2-2 on the year. The team heads to Lincoln, Neb., next weekend to take part in the NWU Snyder Classic, hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan on Nov. 25-26. The Beavers will face Greenville University on Nov. 25 at 5 p.m.