Box Score ST. PAUL – The Northwestern College men's basketball has been full of comebacks this season, but its attempts to rally from a 44-29 halftime deficit fell short Friday night, as the team dropped its first game of the season 94-73 to visiting Buena Vista University.

Buena Vista earned the lead early and held it, posting a 9-4 advantage just five minutes after tipoff. A  Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) layup brought the game with within three, but the visitors kept a close grip on the ball game, thanks in part to a barrage of substitutions throughout the contest. The Beavers biggest lead of the half came at the 6:23 mark, as the team was up 33-19 on the Eagles home court. Matt Watnemo (Moorhead, Minnesota/Moorhead High School) responded with an and-one situation conversion and was soon assisted in the comeback by Tom Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) who put a damper on the visitors' run with a make from long-range. Buena Vista was not finished scoring, however, and extended the NWC deficit to 15 at halftime with a score of 29-44.

Northwestern's woes continued into the second period as a result of continued offensive control of the game by the Storm Lake, Iowa guests. Buena Vista presented its largest margin of advantage at the 16:14 point as it was up 60-33. The home team refused to roll over amidst the deficit, posting scoring rallies throughout the remainder of the half. The Eagles pulled within 12 as a result of another Gisler three-pointer, but it was too little, too late as Buena Vista handed NWC a 94-73 final score.

Buena Vista utilized 28 bench points en route to a 58.5 field goal percentage, while the Eagles earned 49.2% on the night. The Beavers also made over half of the their attempts from beyond the arc while forcing eleven Purple and Gold turnovers.

Leading all scorers in the game was Gisler with 21, while NWC also had double-digit scorers in Wade Chitwood (Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell), Ellis Libby (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson), and Watnemo.  Libby and Gisler each also picked up credit for four assists while committing one turnover apiece.

Northwestern (5-1 overall) will look to return to the win column next Friday night, in a 7:30 p.m. road game matchup against Luther College.