Box Score MANKATO, Minn. - Both the Bethany Lutheran College Vikings and the Concordia-Chicago Cougars came into Saturday's came looking for their first win of the season and both teams showed just how much they wanted it in a tightly contested game. The Cougars overcame a ten-point halftime deficit to win 76-72 over the Vikings.

Concordia-Chicago jumped out to a 8-5 lead, before Rodney Pierce-Tyler hit back to back 3-pointers to push the Vikings on an eight-point run with 12:56 left in the first half. The Vikings went on another 13-2 run to grab a 32-26 lead with 5:21 remaining in the first half, capped by another Pierce-Tyler 3-pointer. Shortly thereafter the Vikings went on a 10-2 run before going into the half with a 44-34 lead.

The Cougars jumped on top of the Vikings to start the second half, going on a 17-4 run to take a 51-48 lead. The Vikings trailed for the remainder of the half until Jacob Wensmann went on a tear and rolled off 10 straight points to give Bethany a 70-68 lead with 2:15 remaining. The Cougars used layups and free throws from Mike Walmer to pull ahead for good, sealing the 76-72 lead.

Wensmann led the Vikings second half charge going 8-14 from the field and contributing a team-high 19 points and eight rebounds for the game. Pierce-Tyler contributed 13 points and a team high nine rebounds of his own and Jermiah Fogarty had 11 points and seven rebounds. Mike Walmer and Nat Pearson had 19 and 18 points, respectively, for the Cougars, and Marcus Elston had a game-high ten rebounds.

The Vikings' next game will be at home against the Bethel University Royals at 7pm in the SFC North Gym.