MANKATO, Minn. – The Bethany Vikings are the #1 seed in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) tournament. The Vikings won the UMAC regular-season championship for only the second time in school history after defeating North Central by 41 points on their home floor last Wednesday.
 
The Vikings will play at home in the semi-finals against the #5 MN-Morris Cougars. The Vikings swept the Cougars during the regular season with the first win coming at home on January 3rd by a score of 91-85. The Vikings then went to Morris on February 3rd and beat the Cougars on their home floor by a score of 77-53.
 
The #1 Vikings were also the number one offensive team in the UMAC this season, averaging 84.4 points per game. They were also the number one defensive team in the UMAC in terms of field goal percentage, holding opponents to less than 41% shooting. The Vikings led the league in assists as a team with 17.3 per game and also led the league in total rebounding with 40.9 per game. Trenton Krueger, Brady Rose, and Bradley Rose led a balanced offensive attack for the Vikings and are amongst the 20 best scorers in the UMAC. Krueger is the league's 12th scorer at 14.1 points per game and is second in field goal percentage, shooting 57.1%.
 
The #5 Cougars defeated the #4 Crown College Storm on their home floor on Monday night for a right to face the Vikings on Wednesday. The Cougars struggled a bit down the stretch, winning only three of their last eight UMAC games during the second half of league play. However, the Cougars boast the most dynamic duo in the UMAC in senior guard CD Douglas and junior guard Noah Grove. Douglas leads the UMAC in scoring at 23.2 points per game on an impressive 55% shooting from the field. Grove is the league's fourth best scorer at 19.4 points per game. The Cougars were the second best offensive team in the league, averaging 82.2 points per game and they also made more free throws per game than any of their competitors. 
 
The Vikings and Cougars will tipoff at 5:30 PM on Wednesday, February 21 ahead of the women's game which is also against Morris.
 
###
 
MEDIA: If you need further information, please feel free to contact Dan DeWitt at 507-344-7856 or email ddewitt@blc.edu