WAVERLY, Iowa (Feb. 11, 2023) - Junior Zane Neubaum led all scorers with 21 points, Gunner Reed followed with 19, but it was a key 16-6 run by Wartburg College over a five-minute stretch midway through the second half that helped guide the Knights to a 73-64 victory over the Beavers on Saturday afternoon inside of Levick Arena.

The game was all tied at 46-46 with just over 11 minutes to play before a quick 9-2 spurt by Wartburg gave the Knights the lead for good. It was still a five-point margin closing in on the 7:00 mark before Wartburg pushed its cushion into double digits at 62-52 with 6:32 left. BVU hung around and was still within seven with 4:30 yet to go, but could never string together a run down the stretch as Wartburg went up by 12 with one minute remaining.

The Knights led by as many as 11 on two separate occasions in the first half before the Beavers closed the gap to just three with a minute remaining before a basket at the final buzzer gave Wartburg a five-point advantage (37-32) going into the locker room.

Neubaum was 6-of-12 shooting from the field and knocked down 4-of-7 attempts from long range. It's the third time this season and the second over the last three games in which he has drilled at least four attempts from downtown. Reed was also a strong 7-of-11 shooting from the field, including a pair of makes from beyond the arc, while also matching Neubaum with six boards to go along with a game-high four steals. Noah Valdez was also in double figures with 10 points to go along with his team-leading seven rebounds. 

Buena Vista had one of its strongest three-point shooting games of the season at 9-of-26 (36 percent) and finished at 46 percent from the field overall, but was hindered by 23 turnovers compared to only 12 from the Knights. Wartburg (11-12, 8-6 A-R-C) held an 18-point edge in points off turnovers for the game (28-10).

Drew Olson scored a team-high 18 points to led the way for the home team. Marshun Williams led all players with 10 rebounds.

Buena Vista is now 8-15 overall (2-13 A-R-C) and will close out its conference campaign on Feb. 15 at home against league-leading Central College. The team will close out its season by hosting UW-Stout in a make-up game on Feb. 17 at 5 p.m.