DECORAH, Iowa (Jan. 27, 2024) - Senior Zane Neubaum and freshman Carter Sievers each scored 15 points with senior Gunner Reed right behind with 13 points to go along with 12 boards, as the Buena Vista University men's basketball team rallied from an eight-point second-half deficit on Saturday afternoon to knock off Luther College, 60-58, and complete the season sweep of the Norse.

Sievers was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field in the contest while also making all four free-throw attempts. Neubaum finished 6-of-16 overall and made both of his attempts from the charity stripe. The two went a combined 2-of-7 from beyond the arc as the Beavers were only 5-of-26 (19.2 percent) for the game. 

Reed made his only long range bucket of the game with 90 seconds to play in regulation that put BVU on top by two. The Beavers got the ball right back off a steal from Ryan Mendoza, but came up empty off a missed shot, and the Norse then had a pair of opportunities to regain the lead inside the final 30 seconds but were off target on a pair of three-point shots as well as one final two-point try.

Luther built its largest lead at 49-41 with 11:25 remaining but the Beavers responded with six straight points to get back within a bucket. The Norse continued to stay in front, leading by five on multiple occasions before Sievers made a pair of free-throws to pull BVU even at 54-54 with under four minutes to go.

Sievers gave the team a brief 57-56 lead with 2:11 left on the clock before the Norse went back in front with an offensive put-back on the next trip down the floor. That led to Reed's late-game bucket that snapped BVU's two-game overall losing skid.

Buena Vista held a slim 31-30 lead at the half with the second half being back-and-forth most of the way.

Both teams made 21 field goals in the contest, including 10-of-21 for the Norse from downtown. A big difference in the game came at the free-throw line where Luther was 6-of-11 and the Beavers 13-of-17, including a 9-of-12 effort in the second half alone. BVU also held a slim 41-39 edge on the glass.

Aidan Bailey and Randall Days each scored a team-high 11 points for Luther (6-14, 1-10 A-R-C) with Daniel Webster right behind at 10.

Buena Vista improves to 11-8 overall (4-6 A-R-C) and now travels to Central College on Jan. 31 for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off against the Dutch.