STORM LAKE, Iowa (Jan. 14, 2024) - The Buena Vista men's basketball team overcame an early 10-point deficit and trailed by one at the half, but eventually pulled away in the final minutes of a back-and-forth game to hold off visiting Wartburg College, 91-82, on Sunday afternoon inside of Siebens Fieldhouse.

Senior Zane Neubaum turned in a game-high 28 points and 11 rebounds with freshman Carter Sievers and sophomore Jackson Jones adding 18 and 16 points, respectively. Senior Gunner Reed flirted with a double-double of his own by scoring nine points and grabbing eight boards.

BVU took advantage of its time at the free-throw line in the contest, making 23-of-26 overall (88.5 percent) and was 50 percent from the field overall. The Knights were slightly better by shooting 55.4 percent overall and making 43.3 percent from downtown (13-of-30), but were held to only 7-of-13 at the charity stripe.

The Knights came out on fire from distance early on and building 21-10 advantage with eight minutes gone by. BVU was cold from behind the arc out of the gate, but Jones and senior Michael Santich nailed back-to-back triples to spark a 14-3 run that tied things up at 24-24 midway through.

Wartburg rolled off five straight points to go in front 29-24 before Jones connected on back-to-back three's of his own to put BVU back on top 30-29. His four makes from long range as well as his 16 points were both career-highs. 

The game then continued to go back-and-forth from there with neither team able to build more than a one-point lead over the next seven minutes as the game changed leads eight times during that stretch. Reed's layup with a little more than three minutes left put the Beavers back in front before Santich gave the team it's largest lead of the half at 41-37 with under two minutes to go. The Knights closed the half with a desparation three-point bucket as time expired to take a 43-42 lead into the locker room.

Neither team was able to build more than a three-point cushion until Neubaum was fouled on a three-point attempt and calmly stepped to the line and made all three to give BVU a five-point lead at 72-67 with less than seven minutes left. He later stole a pass and went the length of the floor for a two-handed jam that made it a 77-71 game with 5:00 to go.

Wartburg nailed one of its 13 three-pointers to cut the deficit in half, but that proved to be as close as the Knights would get down the stretch. Sievers scored five of BVU's next seven points, including a big and-one that gave the team its largest lead of the contest at 86-77. The Beavers then sealed the game at the free-throw line down the stretch by making 5-of-6 inside of the final minute. 

Carter Cuvelier scored 15 points and dished out five assists to help lead the Knights (3-13, 2-5 A-R-C) while Richie Rosenblum added 14 points and six dimes. 

Buena Vista improves to 10-6 (3-4 A-R-C) and goes after its third straight win as it travels to Nebraska Wesleyan University on Wednesday, Jan. 17, for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off against the Prairie Wolves (14-2, 5-2 A-R-C).