LINCOLN, Neb. (Nov. 28, 2025) - The Buena Vista men's basketball team began the Snyder Classic, hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan, on Friday evening with a thrilling 77-72 victory over Crown College.

The Beavers shot over 46 percent from the field in the first half and used an 11-3 run over the final 3:30 of the half to take a 40-30 lead over the Polars into the break. Sophomore Jayden Brink and senior Ned Hayes made back-to-back buckets to begin the second half and built their largest lead of the night at 44-30. Crown then responded with a 11-2 surge to pull back within five just five minutes later and the margin remained within single digits the rest of the way.

BVU appeared to be in control after a pair of made free-throws from senior Jackson Jones with one minute to go, but the Polars, who shot over 50 percent from the field in the second half, made a late run and drained a three-point bucket with 24 seconds left to make it a one-point game at 71-70.

A big difference in the game came at the free-throw line where the Beavers converted 14-of-18 overall while the Polars were only 6-of-8, and missed the front end of a one-and-one attempt with less than five seconds left and trailing by three. Junior Kyle Sternberg grabbed the rebound, was fouled, and made free-throwd to ice the win.

For the second straight game it was Brink posting a career-high with 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting, including 3-of-5 from downtown. Hayes added 16 points, senior Keaton Flaherty had 11 and sophomore Adam Bryte finished with 10. Jackson Jones chimed in with nine points, six rebounds and a team-leading six assists.

Anthony Knight chalked up 17 points and five assists to lead Crown (3-4) who has now lost all four meetings to BVU all-time.

Buena Vista improves to 3-1 on the year and will play the University of Dallas (1-3) on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m., in their final game of the Classic.