STORM LAKE, Iowa (Nov. 15, 2025) - Senior Jackson Jones scored a career-high 23 points with junior Carter Sievers adding 20, and the Buena Vista men's basketball team closed out the first annual Central Bank Classic with a strong 83-73 victory over Minnesota-Morris on Saturday inside of Siebens Fieldhouse.

The Cougars jumped out to a 20-8 lead in the early going but Jones then scored 10 points, including a pair of three-point buckets, during a key 23-8 run that gave Buena Vista a 31-28 lead with under 6:00 left in the first half. Sievers later added back-to-back three-point makes that helped extend the margin to 43-36 at the half.

Minnesota-Morris chipped away at the lead early in the second half and would take a 56-51 lead on a three-pointer with six minutes gone by. Jones, however, put a stop to that run with another made three-point bucket as he scored 10 of the next 12 points for BVU that put the team up 63-58. His final three-point bucket of the afternoon gave the team a 69-58 advantage with under eight minutes remaining. His brother, sophomore Jaden Jones, later made a layup that gave the Beavers their largest lead of the afternoon at 71-59 as the Cougars were unable to get back any closer than nine the rest of the way.

Jones finished the day shooting 9-of-14 from the field and 5-of-9 from long distance while also grabbing seven boards and playing 23 minutes. Sievers, who was also named to the All-Classic Team, was 5-of-8 shooting and 8-of-11 from the charity stripe. He also dished out four assists.

Sophomore Adam Bryte followed up his career-high 25 points on Friday night with 13 points while Jaden Jones and junior Keaton Flaherty each added seven. Flaherty dished out four assists and also did his part on the defensive end by grabbing a career-best 12 rebounds.

Buena Vista was 11-of-31 from downtown and shot 45 percent from the field overall. It also did its part at the free-throw line by making 24-of-30.

The Cougars (0-4) made 43.3 percent from the field and 8-of-26 from distance but shot half as many free-throws as BVU and made 13-of-17.

The victory gave head coach Jeff Horner his first BVU coaching victory as the team improves to 1-1 overall. Next up will be a trip to Drake University on Friday, Nov. 21, for an exhibition game against the Bulldogs. Tipoff inside of the Knapp Center is at 6:30 p.m.