MANKATO, Minn. -- The Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team (2-0 overall) used a 47-point second half to help it to an 89-71 win over Carleton (0-1) Wednesday night.

The Knights had not played in over 600 days, as they chose not to play in the 2020-21 academic year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Carleton made a last second half court shot to take a one-point lead (43-42) at halftime.

The Vikings began to build their lead and pushed the margin to 11 six minutes into the second half in on a layup from senior Jared Milinkovich (New Prague, Minn.)
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The Knights cut the margin to eight with 8:15 to play. BLC compiled a 14-1 run over the next four minutes to increase the lead to 21 points (84-63), and led by double digits for the duration of the contest.

All five starters finished in double figures and were paced by 19 from senior Brian Smith (Brooklyn Park, Minn.). Milinkovich had 17, junior Kaden Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) had 11, and senior Jacob Milinkovich (New Prague, Minn.) and sophomore Hunter Nielsen (New Prague, Minn.) each had 10.



Junior Justin Schrupp (Danube, Minn.) had a team-high seven rebounds.



The Vikings conclude their two-game homestand Saturday when they host St. Olaf at 2 p.m.