MANKATO, Minn.—The Bethany Lutheran College men's basketball team opened the season undefeated in the 106-102 win over Simpson Friday night.


 
Six Vikings finished in double digits as senior Trenton Krueger (Eagan, Minn.) led all scorers with 24 points and added a double-double with 10 rebounds. Sophomore Cire Mayfield (St. Louis Park, Minn.) followed with 21 points, classmate Kaden Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) had 18 as he made a career-high six three-pointers, junior Brian Smith (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) tallied 14, junior Jared Milinkovich (New Prague, Minn.) had 13, and sophomore Jerret Utpadel (Geneva, Minn.) had 12 points.
 
The first half remained close and featured nine ties which included 42 all with 53 seconds to go. A layup from the Storm gave them the two point lead with 0:37 left until Vaughn made a trey with 0:14 remaining to give BLC the 45-44 advantage at halftime.
 
A similar storyline played out in the second half as the score was knotted 13 times, and for the last time at 98-98 with 1:55 left in regulation. Bethany built a four-point lead on layups from Mayfield and Milinkovich with 0:45 left.
 
Simpson sliced the lead in half with its layup with 0:19 left and Milinkovich helped build the margin once more on his two successful free throws with 0:16 to go. The Storm answered with a basket with 0:14 remaining to cut the lead in half once more. Two made free throws from Smith gave the home team the four-point lead to give Simpson the ball. The Storm attempted one more play, but their three-point attempt was missed with 0:04 and the Vikings were awarded possession to seal the win as they ran out the clock moving the ball.
 
This marked the second-straight win over the Storm in the series and the program moved to 13-3 in 100-point games.
 
As a team, Bethany held the advantages in two of the three shooting percentage categories: field-goal percentage (.530 vs. 0478), and three-point field goal percentage (.478 vs. .429). BLC led in field goals, three-point field goals, rebounds, assists, and blocks.

The Vikings return to the court Tuesday when they host another opponent from the American Rivers Conference, Buena Vista, at 7:30 p.m.