WAVERLY, Iowa - Wartburg men's basketball saw its second-half rally fall just short in the American Rivers Conference season opener as Buena Vista University took home an 82-78 victory on Saturday, Jan. 23 inside Levick Arena. Junior guard Keagan John led all scorers with a career-high 23 points off the bench on 10-of-14 shooting. 

Next up, the Orange and Black (1-3, 0-1 A-R-C) will return to nonconference competition when they host Cornell College (0-0, 0-0 MWC) on Tuesday, Jan. 26 at 6:30 p.m. inside Levick Arena. 

The opening 10 minutes of the contest were back-and-forth before Buena Vista went on a 12-0 run with seven minutes remaining. The Beavers extended their lead to 13 at the break courtesy of some hot shooting and timely threes. Wartburg was plagued by turnovers in the first, logging 13 before halftime. 

The Knights stormed back in the second behind a 42.9% clip from long range and 57.1% shooting from the field. Wartburg also forced eight turnovers in the second half to battle back in the game. Both teams traded the lead down the stretch as the contest saw 11 lead changes and eight ties. With just 15 seconds remaining, John drove to the basket and laid in a bucket to cut the deficit to one. However, guards Garrett Sittner and Michael Demers from Buena Vista converted on some clutch free throws to close out the game. 

In addition to John's career high, senior forward Ryan Stulken reached double figures in scoring with 10 on 4-of-6 shooting to go along with his team-high six rebounds. Sophomore guard Jack Molstead led the Knights in the assist column with a season-high five helpers. Wartburg finished the contest 48.4% from the field, 42.9% from 3-point land, 61.5% from the charity stripe and logged a season-high 78 points.

Defensively, the Knights forced 13 turnovers on five steals and two blocks. Wartburg held the Beavers to a shooting percentage of 47.5% from the field, 30.3% from long range and 61.5% from the free-throw line.