STORM LAKE, IOWA. – The University of Northwestern men's basketball team made the trip to Northwest Iowa to take on Buena Vista University in Saturday afternoon action. The Beavers, who have faced a tough schedule, managed to keep their streak alive – riding out the Eagles' late game comeback to secure their sixth straight win in a 80-72 final.
 
Northwestern falls to 3-3 on the year, while BVU improves to a perfect 6-0.
 
It looked like it might be a long game for the UNW team when Buena Vista scored 42 first half points and held the Eagles to just 27% shooting from the field (and 28 points) heading into the half. The Beavers led by as much as 19 and forced Northwestern into an unprecedented 10 first-half turnovers. In a physical first half, 21 fouls were committed between the two teams.
 
The Eagles, however, did what they did best – battle hard in the final 20 minutes. Northwestern outscored BVU, 16-4 in a three minute span to pull within two points at the 5:07 mark. Freshman Solomon Bach (Watertown, S.D./Watertown) contributed seven of the points in the run.
 
The Eagles kept fighting, pulling within one point on a three-pointer from Noah Alm (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) with 3:37 remaining. The Beavers, however, continued to get to the line and put points on the board. With just over one minute remaining, Alm drained three straight free-throw attempts to keep the Eagles within two (74-72).
 
A series of untimely UNW turnovers forced the Eagles to foul to regain offensive possession – as the Beavers rode out a win in the final minute of action.
 
Noah Alm (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) led UNW with 21 points, making six of 11 shots from the field and a perfect 7-for-7 free throw attempts. Michael Moore (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg) added 17 points (draining four shots from beyond the arc), while Solomon Bach (Watertown, S.D./Watertown) finished with 14 and Tanner Youngberg (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area) added 11. Younberg and Jaron Zwagerman (Sioux Falls, S.D./O'Gorman) each pulled down eight boards for the Eagles.
 
The Beavers scored 34 points in the paint to UNW's 18. Both teams shot 38% from the field in what became an evenly matched contest. UNW outscored BVU, 44-38 in second half action.
 
Northwestern will return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 26 when they welcome UW-River Falls to the Ericksen Center. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. against the Falcons.
 
Follow UNW men's basketball online this season at www.unweagles.com or on Twitter and Instagram at @unwmbb.