Box Score MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team took on a tough opponent in Wisconsin Lutheran College Saturday night and took home a 95-78 victory. With the win the Vikings move to 2-0 on the season while the Warriors fall to 1-1.

In the early goings of this one, both sides could tell what type of matchup they were in for as they went back and forth with neither team gaining much traction or getting a ton of offense going. Trailing 27-23, Bethany would get seven straight points capped off by a Xavier Patterson step-back three pointer to go up three. The Warriors would end up tying things at 33, before the Vikings went on a big run to end the half. Bethany would outscore WLC 17-9 in the final 3:39 with Hunter Nielsen scoring nine points in that span and capping the half off with a two-handed slam to send the Vikings into the break holding a 50-42 lead.

Bethany began the second half how they finished the first, with Mason Ackley rising up over the Warrior center and throwing down a two-handed flush on top of him to keep the momentum rolling. The Vikings continued to stay hot, with Justin Schrupp hitting back-to-back triples to cap off a 19-10 run to open the second half and putting Bethany in the drivers seat 71-52. The Warriors seemed to have a few runs starting midway through the second half, but everytime they started to crawl back the Vikings put a quick stop to it. After the Warriors cut the lead to 14 points, the visitors would respond by pushing the lead back to 21 with 6:38 remaining thanks to a beautiful pass from Riley Ashburn to Nielsen for a layup to go up 83-62. WLC would cut the lead back back to 14 but the Vikings would hang on for the 95-78 win. 

Nielsen led all scorers with 26 points and added a game-best 10 rebounds for a double-double. Four other Vikings posted double figures with Justin Schrupp pouring in 18 on 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-8 from three. Drew Sagedahl, Jax Madson, and Ackley all finished in double figures with Madson posting a solid 11 points, five rebounds, and team-high five assists.

Bethany will next be in action on Thursday when they head to Moody Bible for a 5 p.m.