STORM LAKE, Iowa (Jan. 15, 2025) - Buena Vista fifth-year player Zane Neubaum scored a season-high 39 points on 8-of-12 shooting from downtown to help lead the Beavers past visiting Simpson College on Wednesday night inside of Siebens Fieldhouse.

Neubaum made 1-of-5 shots from the field to begin the night as BVU was clinging to a 19-18 lead eight minutes into the contest. He then made back-to-back three-pointers to spark a 26-9 surge over the next eight minutes to give the Beavers a 45-27 lead and drilled two more over the final two minutes which led to a 57-31 halftime cushion.

The second half began with a layup from Neubaum just seconds into it before the Storm used a quick 11-2 run covering three minutes to keep within striking distance at 59-42 less than four minutes into the half. Another layup by Neubaum stopped the bleeding as he went on to score the next 11 points for BVU, including back-to-back 3's while getting fouled attempting another and then sinking all three free-throws.

Sophomore Carter Sievers sank a pair of free-throws with just over six minutes to play to make it an 82-61 advantage for the Beavers, and they maintained that cushion down the stretch. Simpson briefly got back within 19 with just less than four minutes to play, but that was as close as it would get. BVU responded by scoring seven of the next nine points to make it a 26-point lead before a late bucket for the visitors gave the final score.

Neubaum's 39 points were five shy of his career-high 44 set against Greenville back in 2022-23. He finished the night making 14-of-23 shots from the field while his eight made three's tied for the fourth-highest single-game total in DIII this season. It's also the program's highest total since Hall of Famer Adam Jones nailed 10 against the University of Dubuque back in 2001-02.

Reed, along with Adam Bryte, followed with 12 points and eight rebounds apiece, while Jayden Brink came off the bench and turned in a career-high 10 points on 2-of-3 long range shooting. As a team, the Beavers knocked down a season-high 15 shots from beyond the arc on 28 attempts (53.6 percent). Sievers narrowly missed out on double figures with nine points but dished out a team-high five assists as BVU totaled 19 assists on 34 made field goals.

Buena Vista came out and shot over 61 percent from the field in the first half, making 11-of-18 from downtown. The team cooled off slightly in the second half by making 42 percent overall and 4-of-10 from distance. The hot shooting continued at the free-throw line where it went 15-of-16.

BVU forced 18 Simpson turnovers which led to 24 points. The Beavers had 15 miscues but they led to only 17 points. They also outrebounded the Storm 37-28.

Colton Rasmussen registered 17 points to lead the way for the Storm (4-12, 1-6 A-R-C).

Buena Vista improves to 9-6 overall (4-2 A-R-C) and travels to Wartburg College on Saturday, Jan. 18, for a 4 p.m. tip-off against the Knights.