Senior Wes Nordquist scored a game-high 21 points and hauled in 10 rebounds to help lead a balanced Buena Vista men's basketball team to a convincing 70-41 home win against league-leading Luther College on Saturday evening.  The win pulls BVU back into a tie with the Norse atop the IIAC standings.

Nordquist made 10-of-14 shots from the field and 1-of-3 at the free-throw line.  He also dished out four assists and tallied two steals.  Sophomore Cole Darrow was the only other player in double figures, making 4-of-11 attempts and finishing with 11 points.  A total of 12 players scored for BVU which shot 44 percent for the game.

Aside from Nordquist, senior Kyle Hooks hauled in six rebounds as BVU out-rebounded the Norse, 51-34.

BVU led 9-6 three minutes into the game before going on a 17-2 run over the next eight minutes.  Luther didn't make it into double figures until there was just 5:30 remaining in the opening half.

The Beavers, despite opening the big lead early on, went cold over the final eight minutes, getting only a layup from Tyler Pleiss with 5:05 left before taking a 28-15 lead into the break.

The Norse got within 11 early in the second half before Nordquist scored five straight points and Darrow added a jumper to push the lead back to 18 at 37-19 with 16:24 left.  Junior Michael Kaufmann drilled a three-pointer for a 19-point lead and a bucket by Nordquist then pushed it to 21.  BVU kept rolling from there as Nordquist made it a 30-point advantage with 5:26 on the clock.

The 41 points allowed is the fewest the Beavers have allowed all season and is the lowest total they have surrendered since 2001-02 (35 at Luther).

Buena Vista improves to 17-6 overall (9-3 IIAC) and will take the road for the final time during the regular season on Wednesday night for an 8:00pm contest at Wartburg College (13-9, 8-4 IIAC).  The Knights fell on the road at Coe College on Saturday, 79-44.