DECORAH, Iowa – The Luther men's basketball team defeated Buena Vista 68-62 on senior day. The Norse recognized their 2026 senior class of Jeremy Andera, Gideon Armah-Amissah, Jake Collis, Harrison Hilyer and Yigit Yarisci in the final home game of the season.
 
At halftime the Norse were down by six points trailing 26-32. Midway through the second half Luther began mounting their comeback. Charlie Mason tied the game at 45 with 11:50 remaining. The Norse would gain their first lead of the game 35 seconds later when Owen Poloronis drained a three-pointer (48-45). From that point on Luther was in control of the game building to a 12-point advantage (4:51).
 
The Beavers threated with one minute remaining pulling within two (64-62) but on the other end Charlie Wunderlich bucket made it a two-possession game. Luther sealed the game with a layup from Andre Palavra.
 
Luther shot 57.1 percent in the second half and both teams had 35 rebounds. Palavra led the scorers with 17 points followed by Wunderlich (13) and Owen Bockenstedt (11). The Norse improve to 8-15 overall and 3-11 in the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C).
 
Buena Vista drops to 13-10 overall and 6-8 in A-R-C play. They were led by Carter Sievers with 16 points.
 
Next Wednesday, Feb. 18 Luther travels to Dubuque, Iowa to take on the University of Dubuque at 7:30 p.m.