After watching a 22-point lead slip away, the Buena Vista University men’s basketball team held off a late rally by Luther College to win the Iowa Conference contest 81-69 at home.
The Norse led for the majority of the first half until the Beavers took control with under a minute to play in the first half with Kyle Stribe hitting an open three. The two squads exchanged jumpers and with two seconds remaining, Andre Wagner swished a shot from beyond the arc to give the Beavers a 45-33 advantage heading into halftime.
Buena Vista steamrolled Luther to start the second half, getting four steals in the first three minutes and extending its lead to 20. The Norse whittled their way back into the game as the Beavers couldn’t get a shot to fall for nearly six minutes.
Luther was within three points several times in the final two minutes but Buena Vista was a perfect 6-6 at the free throw line down the stretch to pull out the victory.
Andre Wagner led all scorers with 27 points. Wagner also had five steals and was a perfect 10-10 at the free throw line. Ryan Dupic added 15 points and pulled down six rebounds and Kyle Stribe chipped in 10 points.
Buena Vista had a hot shooting night, hitting 54.0% from the field and 53.3% from beyond the arc. The most impressive shooting, however, came at the free throw line. The Beavers converted on 19-20 (95%) from the charity stripe. The Beavers held a 31-25 rebounding advantage.
Luther had a decent night from the floor as well, converting on 49.2% of its shots from the field and 4-5 (80%) at the line. But the Norse struggled from beyond the arc, hitting only 5-20 (25%) of their shots.
Drew Devine led the offensive efforts for Luther with 20 points off the bench. Tony Brantner had 17 and Brad Sicolt chipped in 10 points.
Buena Vista is now 15-7 overall and 10-4 in the Iowa Conference. Luther drops to 5-18 overall and 3-11 in the conference.
The Beavers hit the road on February 14 to take on the University of Dubuque. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.