MANKATO, Minn. - Taking on Division II foe Mankato State University  who came in ranked No. 21, the Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team was able to hold their own in the exhibition as they fell 116-98. Slow starts doomed the Vikings in both the first and second half, as they were able to hang with the Mavericks for the majority of both frames. 

In the first half, MSU would jump out to a 9-0 lead to open the game and continued to push the envelope, extending it to 27-11 with 13:36 remaining. From there on out, the Vikings would outscore the Mavericks for the rest of the half. Jax Madson would score seven straight points around the midway point of the half to cut the deficit to 10 and after a few back-and-forth sequences that saw the teams trade baskets, Madson would hit a jumper with 6:53 remaining to cut the lead to nine points. Bethany would cut the deficit to eight with under four minutes to play but the Mavericks would respond with an 11-4 run to end the half and take a 64-49 lead into the break. 

To start the second half, MSU opened up strong again by going on a 16-7 run in the first 3:14 to lead 80-56. Trailing by 24, Bethany would start to fight back with Drew Sagedahl and Aleck Sharma hitting back-to-back threes with just under 14 minutes remaining to trim the deficit to 19. The Mavericks would re-extend their lead to 23 with nine minutes remaining before eight straight Viking points cut the deficit to back to 15. That was all the closer Bethany could get as MSU held off the late offensive surge from Bethany by countering with baskets of their own. Similarly to the first half, the Vikings were able to outscore MSU the last 17-plus minutes but a slow start set them back.

Nielsen led the Vikings offense in this one with 24 points, nine rebounds, and four blocks. Jax Madson posted 15 points and six assists, while Drew Sagedahl added 13 points to go along with eight assists. The Vikings offense was firing on all cylinders in this one as they shot just under 50 percent from the field and dished out 31 assists. The assist totals are one off the school record for assists in a game as they have posted 32 twice. 

Bethany will be back in action on Wednesday when they host Simpson for a 6 p.m. contest.