The Beavers came out in the second half and got back-to-back layups from senior Gunner Reed but the Dutch did respond and pushed the lead back to 18. Sophomore Jackson Jones came off the bench and entered the game for the first time with just over 16 minutes left and would make 3-of-6 shots from downtown during that stretch, including a big one with 9:19 to play that gave BVU a 62-61 lead and capped a 27-9 charge. Jones finished the game with 13 points and three rebounds in 16 minutes.
Jones later drilled his final long range bucket that put BVU back on top 67-66 with 7:56 to play, but the Beavers went cold from downtown after that, missing their final five attempts as the Dutch slowly pushed the cushion back up to seven with just over two minutes to play.
BVU shot 48 percent from the field in the second half and converted 11-of-13 at the line during that stretch while the Dutch (6-1, 2-0 A-R-C) were only 7-of-13 from the charity stripe over the final 20 minutes and were held to 40 percent from the field.
Senior Zane Neubaum led all scorers with 23 points, including 15 in the second half. He also grabbed eight rebounds, dished out three assists and recorded three steals. Reed was 8-of-15 from the field and followed with 19 points and nine boards while fellow senior Ryan Mendoza came off the bench and added 11 points and three assists.
Buena Vista drops to 5-1 on the season (0-1 A-R-C) and travels to Coe College (7-1, 2-0 A-R-C) on Saturday, Dec. 2, from a 4 p.m. tip-off against the Kohawks.
