Box Score

STORM LAKE, Iowa – The Northwestern men's basketball team lost its fourth straight game on Saturday as the Eagles dropped a 76-65 affair to Buena Vista University. Neither team put on an impressive shooting performance in the Beavers' Siebens Fieldhouse, but the home team outscored UNW 38-8 in the paint while also producing 19 points off of 12 Eagles turnovers.

Northwestern recovered from an early 10-point deficit, producing an 11-4 run to cut the Buena Vista advantage to 20-17 as the clock slipped under 10 minutes in the first half. The Beavers kept UNW at bay with a five- to six-point buffer down the stretch of the period until six straight Purple and Gold points, including a three-pointer from Blake Van Maannen, had the Eagles down by two at the halftime break.

Buena Vista jumped back out to leads that fluctuated between six and nine points, thanks much in part to layups from Nick Clark and Nick Wuebker. Northwestern made things a little less comfortable for the Beavers midway through the second half as five consecutive Steven Willey (Fort Calhoun, Neb./Fort Calhoun) points kept the Eagles in the game at 58-54. Thomas Shephard (Crystal, N.D./Valley-Edinburg) made a jumper to get UNW within three, but Buena Vista's Cole Darrow answered with a personal 10-0 run that started to put the game out of reach for the Eagles in purple. Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) finally halted the Darrow spree with back to back made baskets, but those would be the final field goals of the night for Northwestern as the Beavers lead sat at 76-65 when the final horn sounded.

Northwestern went 24-63 (38 percent) from the field, making just nine of 27 three-point attempts. Buena Vista's numbers were only slightly better (27-59, 8-23), but the Beavers owned a 41-37 advantage in rebounds in addition to the home squad's dominance in the paint.  

Carney was one of three Eagles to finish in double figures, leading the team with 14 points. Buena Vista  received 25 points from Cole, while Wuebker's 10 points and 10 rebounds amounted to a double-double.

Now 2-4 on the season, Northwestern will try to rediscover its winning ways from the first week of the 2013-2014 campaign when the Eagles head north to the University of Wisconsin-Superior on Tuesday, Dec. 10.