Box Score ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Bethany men's basketball faced a tough road challenge Friday night at UMAC front runner Northwestern. After a 12-point halftime deficit, the Vikings stormed back to take a lead late, but weren't able to hold on as the Eagles withstood the Viking charge 71-66.

Bethany fell behind early as Northwestern started the game hot. UNW's Michael Carney drained 4 3s within the game's first nine minutes as they built a 22-8 lead. The Eagles shot over 51 percent as they held a 39-27 advantage at the break.

The Vikings fell behind 57-43 with 11:18 to go before they started their trek back. Chris Scarver started a BLC 9-0 run with a 3 and Jacob Wensmann and Mitch Hopkins added baskets to trim the deficit to five over the four-minute stretch. Later, Scarver drilled another 3 to trim the lead to one at 61-60 with 4:35 left. Over a minute later, a pair of Jeremiah Fogarty free throws gave Bethany the lead at 62-61. The Eagles followed with a 7-1 run to go up 68-63. A Trent Kuechenmeister 3 made it interesting again to make it 68-66 with 48 seconds left. Northwestern scored the final three points to ice the game.

Bethany's defensive effort picked up big time in the second half as they held Northwestern to 28 percent shooting.

Scarver led BLC with 12 points. Kuechenmeister and Wensmann each added 11.

Bethany (7-15, 6-5 in UMAC) is back on the court Saturday when they play North Central in Minneapolis at 5 p.m.