DECORAH, Iowa (Jan. 28) - The Buena Vista men's basketball team was held to just 13 second half points and squandered an 18-point lead as Luther College made a pair of free-throws with one second left in regulation on Saturday to edge the Beavers, 44-43.
BVU jumped out to a quick 13-3 advantage with only five minutes gone by and continued to extend the margin, leading by as many as 19 at 28-9 with under five minutes remaining in the half. The Beavers managed only two points down the stretch as the Norse clawed back within 30-19 at the break.
A 7-0 run over the first two minutes of the second half quickly pushed the Beaver lead back up to 18 at 37-19, but from there the team was held to only eight points the rest of the half as Luther slowly chipped away at the lead. It cut the deficit down to single digits midway through the half and eventually pulled even for the game's first tie at 41-41 with 4:03 to play.
Simon Daniel made a bucket at the 1:04 mark to put BVU back in front, 43-41, and the team continued to hold the advantage after Luther made just 1-of-2 free-throws on its ensuing possession. Daniel's shot attempt with under 20 seconds left was off the mark and hauled in by the Norse. Then with just one second left, Luther drew a foul and Mikkel Schutte made both free-throw attempts to give the Norse their first lead of the game. The long heave on BVU's ensuing inbounds attempt was broken up to end the game.
Noah Valdez was the only Beaver to score in double figures, going 4-of-7 from long range to finish with a team-leading 14 points. He also tallied four rebounds and three blocked shots.
Isaiah Adams followed with seven points and six boards,
Gunner Reed added six points and seven rebounds while
Zane Neubaum matched Reed in rebounds.
After making seven three-point baskets in the first half, BVU was held to just 1-of-10 from behind the arc in the second and finished the game shooting just 29 percent from the field overall. The team was held to only two free-throw attempts in the game.
Luther (6-13, 3-8 A-R-C) made one fewer field goal, three fewer long range baskets, but made six more free-throws.
Buena Vista now sits at 7-12 overall (1-10 A-R-C) and is to host the University of Dubuque on Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m.
