MANKATO, Minn. - The Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team (6-9 overall, 2-3 UMAC) narrowly fell 96-92 to league leader Northwestern (11-4, 5-0) Saturday.
 
The Vikings took an early nine-point lead (11-2) two minutes into the contest, and later pushed the margin to 17 (34-17) with 7:37 to play on a three-point play by senior Jared Milinkovich (New Prague, Minn.).
 
The Eagles answered with four consecutive triples in the midst of 12-2 run over the next two minutes to slice the difference to seven. BLC later led by 14 with 1:14 to play in the frame, but UNW closed the stanza on a 5-0 run as the Vikings led 47-38 at halftime.
 
Seniors Brian Smith (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) and Cire Mayfield (St. Louis Park, Minn.) were already in double digits with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
 
A different story played out in the second half as the Eagles cut the deficit and took their second lead of the day at 64-63 with 12:32 remaining.
 
The lead changed hands twice over the next two minutes, until Northwestern began to build a seven-point advantage (75-68) with 8:57 to go.
 
The Vikings rallied and made it a one-point game on a layup from Mayfield with 6:09 to play. The Eagles later pushed it to eight with 1:11 left, and Mayfield sliced it to two on his triple with :10 left. Bethany called timeout and chose to foul to get the ball back after the free throws. UNW made both attempts to make it a four-point game.
 
BLC was able to run one more play as the inbounder launched a pass over midcourt, but the last second trey was unsuccessful as an Eagle came down with the rebound and ran out the clock.
 
Smith finished with a team-best 24 points, Mayfield had 22, Milinkovich had 16 and junior Justin Schrupp (Danube, Minn.) had 14 to complete those in double digits.
 
As a team, BLC owned the advantages in assists, steals, and blocks. The Vikings shot 100% from the free throw line to tie the school record.



Click here for the recap in the Mankato Free Press.
 
Bethany takes to the road next weekend and will first face Minnesota Morris Friday at 7:15 p.m.