STORM LAKE, Iowa (Jan. 20, 2024) - The Buena Vista men's basketball team hosted league-leading Coe College on Saturday afternoon, and in a game that featured five ties and seven lead changes, the Kohawks used a late run to hold off the Beavers inside of Siebens Fieldhouse, 81-71.

Freshman Carter Sievers led BVU with 14 points while senior Zane Neubaum and sophomore Jackson Jones each added 13. Freshman Kyle Sternberg came off the bench and added 11 points. Jones also hauled in a team -high six rebounds and added three assists and three steals.

BVU, which came in averaging just over 10 made three-point buckets in the game, was held to just 5-of-18 shooting from downtown, including just 1-of-6 in the second half. The Kohawks buried 9-of-25 from beyond the arc and was 53 percent from the field overall.

A three-pointer by Brady Klahn matched Coe's largest lead of the first half at 29-20 with just over five minutes left in the half before Sievers scored the team's final eight points of the period to give BVU a 34-33 lead. The Kohawks got a shot to fall just before the first-half buzzer sounded to give them a 35-34 edge at the break.

Coe started the second half strong, building the game's first double-digit advantage at 53-43 with five minutes gone by before a quick run by the Beavers, capped by a Sternberg three-point basket, brought them back within 54-52. Coe followed with five quick points of its own and gradually built a 13-point cushion that it would maintain down the stretch as BVU was unable to get any closer than 10 the rest of the way.

Cael Schmitt scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Kohawks (16-2, 7-1 A-R-C) while TJ Schnurr followed with 20.

Buena Vista dips to 10-8 on the year (3-6 A-R-C) and returns to action on Jan. 27, at Luther College starting a 4 p.m.