MANKATO, Minn. – First-year Bethany Lutheran head men's basketball coach, Pat Garvin, earned his first career win in the 10-683 victory over North Central (1-5 overall) Saturday afternoon.
Senior Brian Smith (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) tied the single game school record of 15 assists, and added a team-high 25 points. The mark for assists was set by Robert Smaller, against Westminster College on Dec. 29, 2004.
As a team, the Vikings tied the single game assist mark with 32, which previously occurred against Minnesota Morris on Feb. 21, 2018.
Four teammates joined Smith in double digits as sophomore Hunter Nielsen (New Prague, Minn.) had 20 points, classmates Drew Leistikow (St. Charles, Minn.) had 11, sophomore Justin Schrupp (Danube, Minn.) added 12 and senior Jared Milinkovich (New Prague, Minn.) had 10.
BLC opened the contest on a 17-6 run over the first seven minutes and never looked back. The Vikings led 58-33 at halftime and Nielsen was already in double figures with 12 points.
The Rams later made it a 14-point game with 2:06 to play. Bethany answered with a 6-0 run over the closing minutes to seal the win.
The Vikings finished 51.9% from the field and held the advantage in every team category.
Bethany returns to the court Monday when it hosts Crown in a nonconference game at 7 p.m.
