NEW ULM, Minn. (Dec. 10, 2024) - The Buena Vista University men's basketball team led by as many as 16 points late in the first half at Martin Luther on Tuesday night before the Knights rallied all the way back and would hold off the Beavers, 80-74, in a non-conference match-up.

BVU had the touch from beyond the arc in the first half, making 8-of-20 attempts, including one from freshman Adam Bryte that put the Beavers back up double digits at 34-24 with under five minutes left in the opening half. Zane Neubaum hit one later on followed by layups from Jayden Brink and Keaton Flaherty that gave the team its largest lead of the night at 42-26 with 2:35 remaining. Martin Luther, however, scored the final six points, including one of their two three-point buckets in the half with 34 seconds left to pull back within 42-32 at the break.

The Knights came out of the locker room and scored the first four points of the second half to make it a six-point game before BVU quickly pushed it back to double digits at 49-38. Martin Luther followed that quick surge up with a pivotal 13-0 run to give them a 51-49 advantage midway through. It was back-and-forth over the next three minutes until the Knights, which went just 2-of-13 from downtown in the opening half, connected on back-to-back attempts from downtown that pushed their lead up to six at 63-57 with 7:06 to play.

Martin Luther finished the second half going 4-of-8 from long distance while BVU went ice cold at 1-for-20.

Sophomore Carter Sievers, who led BVU with 20 points on the night, brought the team within 72-70 with just over a minute on the clock when Bryte found him for a layup. The Knights then got a key offensive rebound on the next possession, and after a Beaver foul, they stepped to the line and made 1-of-2 to make it a 73-70 with 1:11 left. 

The Beavers missed three straight shots from beyond the arc while Martin Luther made a pair of free-throws and a layup to go up 77-70. Sievers later brought the team as close as 77-74 with 15 seconds remaining, but Martin Luther (3-3) would make 3-of-4 at the free-throw line in the closing seconds to hang on for the win.

Sievers was 7-of-12 shooting and also went on to add six rebounds. Neubaum led the team with three made three-point buckets and followed with 17 points and seven boards. Bryte, along with Gunner Reed tallied 12 points each with Reed and Kyle Sternberg hauling in a team-leading eight rebounds.

Buena Vista finished the night by shooting 37.8 percent from the field overall (28-of-74) while going 9-of-40 from distance. Martin Luther connected on 57 percent of its attempts in the second half and finished the game at 45.3 percent overall.  The Knghts also made 16-of-25 from the free-throw line while BVU was 9-of-16.

Both teams hauled in 41 rebounds and combined for only 14 turnovers.

Adam Loberger turned in a game-high 26 points and nine rebounds to help lead the Knights.

Buena Vista is 4-4 overall and will host the University of Wisconsin-Superior on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 3 p.m.