STORM LAKE, Iowa (Feb. 13, 2025) - The Buena Vista men's basketball team hosted Loras College in a rare afternoon midweek game inside of Siebens Fieldhouse on Thursday and had a last second heave beyond halfcourt rim out as the team dropped a tough 71-69 American Rivers Conference game to the Duhawks.

Loras had made eight straight free-throws before misfiring on the first of two attempts with just under three seconds to play. The Duhawks made the second attempt to make it 71-69. Kyle Sternberg inbounded the ball for BVU to Simon Daniel and after one dribble passed it back to Sternberg who heaved it toward the basket from just past the Loras bench but the ball rimmed off to the right.

The Duhawks built their largest lead 64-56 after a dunk by Alex Singleton with 2:50 remaining. BVU continued to chip away and got a pair of three-point makes along the way from sophomore Carter Sievers, including one with 10 seconds left that cut the Loras lead to 68-67, but that was as close as they'd get.

It was a back-and-forth game from the opening tip with Loras needing a basket just before the halftime buzzer sounded to take a 34-32 advantage into the locker room. BVU then started the second half on a 13-3 surge to build its largest lead of the afternoon at 45-37 at the 16:22 mark. BVU remained in front by six at 49-43 before Loras tied it at 49-49 with just over eight minutes to play.

Sievers completed a three-point play that put BVU back in front at 52-49 before the Duhawks used a 18-4 run to take their largest lead.

Sievers went on to lead all scorers with 25 points which set a new career-high, surpassing his previous best of 24 set last season against Faith Baptist. He finished 9-of-11 from the field and 3-of-4 from long range while battling foul trouble throughout most of the second half. 

Senior Gunner Reed followed with 19 points, five rebounds and a pair of steals while senior Simon Daniel and sophomore Kyle Sternberg each scored seven. Sternberg also chipped in with five rebounds and a career-best three blocks. Senior Ned Hayes came off the bench and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds for BVU which outrebounded the Duhawks, 36-33.

BVU finished the game at 43.4 percent overall (23-of-53) and made 8-of-25 from deep. Loras made 5-of-16 from long range in the opening half before cooling off to only 2-of-8 in the second. The Duhawks (15-7, 9-4 A-R-C) finished the game shooting 40.4 percent overall (23-of-57) and also made 18-of-25 at the charity stripe.

Buena Vista is now 11-11 on the year and drops to 6-7 in conference play. The Beavers will host Wartburg College (13-10, 6-8 A-R-C) on Saturday at 4 p.m. as it closes out the home schedule on Senior Day.