Photo Credit: Sara Eisenhauer, UMAC Assistant Commissioner

MANKATO, Minn. – Returning to the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign, the Bethany Lutheran men's basketball program hosted St. Scholastica on Wednesday night in the semifinal round of the tournament. With a UMAC Championship appearance on the line, it was the Saints securing the 90-70 victory to advance to championship Saturday against Northwestern.
 
NOTES PRIOR TO TIP-OFF:
The Vikings made a huge turnaround under first-year coach Matt Fletcher and locked up the No. 2 seed with a win over Northwestern Saturday to finish with a 12-4 conference record. The Saints also ended with a 12-4 record, but lost the second spot in the field to the Vikings due to head-to-head tiebreakers as the Vikings swept the Saints in the regular season. The Vikings will hope to make it three-in-a-row Wednesday against the Saints.

This season, reigning UMAC Player of the Week Brandyn Frelix continued to lead the Vikings averaging 17.8 ppg in conference play. He also was among the league's best in field goal percentage (51.4) and rebounding (7.9). Adding to the Vikings' offense were Brady Rose and Neil Eichten who each contributed 12.7 ppg and 11.7 ppg, respectively. Rose tallied 5.5 rebounds a game, while Eichten also had 3.3 assists per game.

Coming off a UMAC Freshman of the Year season a year ago, Brandon Newman became the Saints' go-to guy this season as he was among the top scorers with 17.6 ppg and an impressive 50.5 field goal percentage. Kory Deadrick and rookie Collin Anderson each added 11.3 ppg in conference play, with Deadrick ranking among the league's best in rebounds per game (6.1) and blocks per game (0.9).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• In the first half, the Saints went up early by as many as 11 points before the Vikigns gained some momentum and cut the lead to two with11:39 to go in the opening 20.
• Four Saints reached double figures in scoring in the UMAC semifinals.
• CSS shot 46.8 percent (29-for-62) from the field compared to the Vikings 40.7 percent (22-for-54).
• The Saints nailed 10 three-pointers compared to BLC's six.
• The largest lead for CSS was extended to 28 points late in the second half.
• The lone lead for Bethany Lutheran was 2-0 in the opening minutes of the contest.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Senior Brandyn Frelix (Minneapolis, Minn.) led the Vikings with 14 points, going 5-9 from the field.
• Junior Bradley Rose (Le Sueur, Minn.) knocked down three long balls to total 12 points.
• Both Frelix and Bradley Rose collected six rebounds.
• Sophomore Jarred Merchant (Kimball, Minn.) finished with nine points and five rebounds.

 
Head Coach Matt Fletcher and the 2016-17 Vikings finish the season with an overall record of 17-9. BLC finished second in the UMAC at 12-4.  
MEDIA: If you need further information, please feel free to contact Lucas Herd at 507-344-7856 or email lucas.herd@blc.edu.