Box Score FULTON, Mo. (Nov. 11, 2023) - The Buena Vista men's basketball team got its 2023-24 campaign off on a hot start Saturday night by rolling over Westminster College 127-68 as part of the SLIAC/A-R-C Challenge.
The Beavers were clicking on all cylinders by shooting 59 percent from the field, drilling 16 three-point shots, out-rebounding the Bluejays 46-23, and forcing 26 turnovers. The 16-made long range buckets are the team's highest single-game total since burying 18 against Bethany Lutheran back in 2019-20.
Senior
Zane Neubaum moves within four points of 1,000 in his career after turning in a game-high 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting. He was 5-of-8 from long range and made all three free-throws while adding five rebounds and three steals.
Freshman
Keaton Flaherty made is collegiate debut and scored 18 points while
Gunner Reed chipped in with 15 points and five boards. Fellow freshman
Carter Sievers was also in double digits with 11 points while dishing out seven assists. Overall, the Beavers had seven players scored at least 10 points.
Michael Santich led all players with eight assists to go along with his eight points with sophomore transfer
Christian Stanislav grabbing a team-high nine rebounds while chipping in seven points.
The 127 points scored by BVU is the second-highest total in program history. The school record is 142 set in 2017-18 in a victory over Greenville University. It's the first time the team has reached the century mark since defeating UC-Santa Cruz, 107-92 on Jan. 2, 2023. It's also the first time reaching triple digits in a season-opener since edging Bethany Lutheran 100-92 in 2018-19.
The Bluejays led 6-2 in the opening minutes before the Beavers turned on the jets and scored the next 20 points and never looked back. The lead reached 20 points with just over six minutes left after a three-pointer by Neubaum, as BVU led by as many as 29 in the opening half en route to a 58-30 lead at the break. A 10-2 surge to begin the second half pushed the lead over 30 and it continued to go up from there. A three-pointer late in the game by Flaherty gave BVU its largest lead of 61 at 124-63.
Brennan Jeffries led the Bluejays with 20 points with Ben Eberlin adding 12.
Buena Vista (1-0) wraps up the SLIAC/A-R-C Challenge on Sunday afternoon by taking on Fontbonne at 1 p.m.
