MANKATO, Minn. - The Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team outscored Central 15-5 in the last 5:49 of Tuesday's contest as they rallied to a 79-74 victory. With the win the Vikings move to 5-0 overall, marking their first 5-0 start in program history.
The Dutch, who play a much slower tempo, controlled the pace of play early in this one but the Vikings were able to climb out to an 11-7 lead in the first six minutes of play. Bethany was able to pick up the pace, as both teams started trading baskets in the middle of the first half and the Vikings would extend their lead to 28-21 on a Jax Madson three-pointer. Central would respond by going on their own run, scoring 15 straight points to take an eight-point lead with just under two minutes left in the half. Bethany would answer late though, as they scored four points to end the half and cut the deficit to 36-32 heading into the break.
Coming out of halftime the Vikings carried over their momentum from the last few minutes of the first half, as Drew Sagedahl poured in five points and Madson hit another three to put the Vikings up 40-38 just a minute into the second frame. The Dutch had the answer though as they would score 10 of the next 17 to take a one point lead at 50-49 with 15:20 to play. The teams would then play a highly contested middle portion of the half, trading baskets until Central was able to go on a 8-2 run to take a 67-62 lead with 6:56 remaining. They would continue to keep Bethany at bay as each team would score two more points over the next minute and a half before the home team started to make their run.
Mason Ackley made a pair of baskets and Madson hit a jump shot to put the Vikings up one with 4:01 remaining. After a defensive stop, the Vikings missed their first shot on the ensuing possession, but Sagedahl snagged an offensive rebound and hit Madson who pump faked and made two defenders fly by before finding a relocated Sagedahl in the corner who buried a triple and took the top off North Gym as the place erupted for the Vikings four point lead. They weren't done there though as Mason Ackley got a steal on the next Dutch possession and after setting up their offense, Xavier Patterson would dump off a pass to Ackley for a dunk to put the Vikings up six with 2:26 to play. Another Ackley layup with 1:32 remaining put the Vikings up eight but the Dutch would respond with a layup of their own to keep the lead at six with 1:16 left. The Dutch would hit a three with 42 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to three, but a Patterson floater with 15 seconds left would ice the game and give Bethany a 79-74 win.
Ackley led the Viking offense in this one with 16 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists. The Vikings had five other players finish in double figures as Sagedahl, Madson, Justin Schrupp, Hunter Nielsen, and Patterson all topped 10 points with Patterson also dishing out eight assists and totaling six rebounds for a well-rounded stat sheet.
Bethany will be back in action Saturday as they take on MSU-Mankato at 1 p.m.
