SUPERIOR, Wis. – The Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team (4-4 overall, 1-0 UMAC) defeated UW-Superior (2-6, 0-1) 68-66 Friday night.

The Vikings led 36-35 at halftime. The 'Jackets began to build a lead in the second half and pushed the margin to six (52-46) with 12:14 to go. BLC knotted it at 54 all with 8:22 remaining on a layup from senior Jared Milinkovich (New Prague, Minn.). This was in the midst of a 6-0 run he compiled by himself to help Bethany regain the lead at 58-54.

UWS made a layup with four seconds left to slice the margin to two (68-66). After a missed BLC free throw, the YellowJackets had just over one second left to run one last play, and their last-second shot attempt hit the rim at the buzzer to give the win to the Vikings.

Senior Brian Smith (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) finished with 26 points, just one shy of his career-best, which included 15 points in the first half alone. Milinkovich joined him in double figures with 11 points.

Bethany owned the team advantages in all three team shooting percentages categories, assists, and blocks. Defensively, it held UW-Superior to 16.7% from beyond the arc.

The Vikings continue their conference opening weekend at Northland tomorrow at 4:45 p.m.