MANKATO, Minn. -- The Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team (2-1 overall) fell 72-64 to St. Olaf (2-1) Saturday afternoon.

The Vikings jumped to a 13-2 lead in the first four minutes of the contest. The Oles answered and later led 37-28 at halftime.

BLC battled back in the second half as senior Brian Smith (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) made it a one-point game with his layup with 10:09 to go (51-50). After a St. Olaf turnover, the Vikings took the narrow lead at 52-51 as sophomore Hunter Nielsen (New Prague, Minn.) made a layup with 9:31 remaining.

Bethany later led by six points two minutes later, before the Oles answered again, this time with a 16-2 run to reclaim the lead at 66-60 with 4:11 to play.

Smith had 26 points on the day, which included 15 in the first half alone. His total was one shy of his career mark. Nielsen finished with 11 points and senior Jacob Milinkovich (New Prague, Minn.) completed those in double digits with 10.

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The Vikings take to the road next week to compete in the Carroll Classic Friday and Saturday.