Box Score

Men's Basketball Opens UMAC Play with Victory over Yellowjackets

MANKATO, Minn. – The men's basketball team opened up the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference portion of their schedule with a home date against the newest team in the UMAC, the Yellowjackets from UW-Superior. The Vikings played a strong 40 minutes of basketball to earn their first victory of the season, defeating UW-Superior 92-80.
 
UW-Superior won the opening tip and within seconds were leading 3-0. The Vikings went on an early run courtesy of Neil Eichten, who scored 12 of Bethany's 14 points in the early minutes of the first half. The Yellowjackets and Vikings were back and forth on both ends of the court for the reminder of the first period of play, going into the half knotted at 35.
 
In a very physical first half of play, the Yellowjackets shot 44.8% (13-29) from the field compared to the Vikings 35.7% (10-28).
 
To open the second half of play, Brandyn Frelix scored six points for the Vikings offensive in the first five minutes of the half. In that time, UW-Superior went on a 12-6 run before the home team stormed back to take a 57-56 lead half way through the second period of play.
 
With five minutes left in regulation, Bethany led 72-67 in front of an energized crowd in the Sports and Fitness Center. Frelix continued his offensive surge in the second half of play, finishing the UMAC opener with 29 points in 23 minutes of action. The forward scored 27 second half points to lead the Vikings to victory.
 
Neil Eichten finished the game with 17 points while Nick Sanborn and Zach Brandts added 17 and 14 points. The Rose brothers, Brady and Bradley contributed nine and six points in front of a great crowd.
 
The Vikings finished the game shooting 46.3% (25-54) compared to 50.8% (31-61) from the Yellowjackets. Bethany out-rebounded UW-Superior 34-31. In the UMAC opener, there were 13 lead changes and the contest was tied 17 different times.
 
Bethany (1-4, 1-0 in UMAC) will be back in action Saturday, December 5^th at home against the Saints from St. Scholastica. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. with the women's game to follow at 5 p.m.