LINCOLN, Neb. (Jan. 17, 2024) - The Buena Vista men's basketball team was looking to wrap up the first half of its American Rivers Conference schedule on Wednesday by notching its third straight win, but despite four players scoring in double figures, led by 21 from senior Zane Neubaum, the Beavers came up short in a hard-fought 84-73 contest inside of Snyder Arena.

Neubaum was 8-of-15 shooting from the field and surpassed 1,300 career points in the process while moving into 14th place on the program's all-time scoring list with Brett Bergstrom (1985-89). He needs one point to reach Eric Wiebers (2002-05) for 13th and is 29 away from 12th (Cole Darrow).

Freshman Carter Sievers made 4-of-8 attempts from long distance en route to 15 points despite shooting 5-of-14 from the field overall. Senior Ryan Mendoza drilled 3-of-6 from beyond the arc to match Sievers' point total. Senior Gunner Reed was 5-of-10 shooting and chipped in with 13 points and a team-leading nine rebounds and four assists.

The Beavers made 13-of-34 shots from distance in the contest while holding the Prairie Wolves to only 9-of-33. NWU managed to grab 19 offensive rebounds which led to 19 second chance points. The Prairie Wolves also outscored BVU by 18 in the paint.

The Prairie Wolves built an early 21-9 advantage and maintained that double-digit lead the rest of the half en route to a 45-35 halftime lead.

BVU stayed within striking distance throughout the entire second half, but NWU had an answer each time the Beavers began making any charge. The lead crept into single digits several times over the final 20 minutes with a three-pointer from Sievers pulling BVU as close as 66-61 with under nine minutes yet to play.

The Prairie Wolves, however, came back with four quick points to push the margin back to nine at 70-61, and the Beavers were unable to claw any closer than eight points down the stretch.

Peter Lash led Nebraska Wesleyan (15-2, 6-2 A-R-C) with a game-high 23 points, including 5-of-9 shooting from downtown while Jack Groeteke added a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. NWU has the league's second-longest win streak at 10 games.

Buena Vista dips to 10-7 overall (3-5 A-R-C) and returns home to host league-leading Coe College (15-2, 7-1 A-R-C) at 4 p.m.