LINCOLN, Neb. (Nov. 24, 2023) - The Buena Vista men's basketball team returned to the court on Friday and used a big second half rally to remain perfect on the season with an 85-69 victory over St. Joseph College of Maine (2-4). The game was the opener of the 2023 Snyder Classic, hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan University.

BVU shot just under 38 percent from the field in the first half but responded in a big way at both ends over the final 20 minutes by shooting better than 58 percent overall while holding the Monks to 40 percent after they sizzled to 51 percent in the first.

Senior Zane Neubaum helped pave the way with his game-high 24 points, despite making only 5-of-13 shot attempts. He was aided by an 11-of-14 effort at the charity stripe and also dished out four assists. Fellow senior Gunner Reed followed right behind with 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting to go along with eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. Senior Ryan Mendoza added 13 points, five assists while sophomore Christian Stanislav registered his first double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Beavers led 9-7 in the early going, but the Monks would lead for most of the half, building multiple 11-point advantages, before taking a 40-31 cushion into halftime.

BVU pulled within 44-42 with just over four minutes gone by in the second half and would take its first lead since early in the opening half at 49-48 on a three-point bucket from senior Michael Santich. After the Monks tied it at 49-49 on a free-throw,  Neubaum buried one of his three long range treys to make it 52-49 with 11:14 to play. 

It was back-and-forth over the next few minutes until the Beavers pushed the margin to eight with just under six minutes left. A pair of made free-throws from Neubaum gave BVU its first double-digit advantage of the game with 5:33 to go, and the Beavers would maintain the double-digit margin for the remainder of the lead. Their largest lead came when Neubaum made three of four free-throw attempts in the closing seconds after a pair of technical fouls on the Monks' bench.

Buena Vista is now 4-0 overall and will close out the trip against Elmira College (N.Y.) on Saturday at 3 p.m.