WAVERLY, Iowa - Trailing Wartburg by as many as 18 in the first half, the Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team was able to overcome that margin and hold onto a late lead to secure an 87-83 win on Saturday afternoon. With the win the Vikings move to 7-0 while the Knights fall to 3-4.

Photo Gallery (Courtesy of Kylie Macziewski)

Wartburg got off to a fast start in this one as they connected on 16 of their first 22 shots and were able to take a 37-19 lead just 11 minutes into play. The Vikings locked down their defense though and were able to hold the Knights to 3-of-12 shooting and eight points in the final nine minutes as they went on a 20-8 run during that span to cut the deficit to six points heading into the break.

Bethany continued to chip away and 12 points in the first seven minutes of the second half from Jax Madson helped the visitors even things up at 59 with 13:36 to play. The Vikings would then go on a 12-5 run capped off by a Madson three-pointer to take a seven point lead with just over eight minutes remaining. Wartburg was able to trim the lead to one, but Bethany would answer the call and re-extend it to eight with 2:36 to go after a Madson fallaway jumper in the paint went down after a nice pass from Xavier Patterson. The Knights weren't out of it yet, as they would shrink the deficit to four thanks to a few layups and empty offensive possessions from Bethany before they connected on a three with 38 seconds remaining to trail by one. Wartburg elected not to foul and Drew Sagedahl would make them pay as the sophomore came up clutch with a pullup jumper on the right baseline to push the lead back to three with 10 seconds left. Bethany would force a turnover on the ensuing possession and Sagedahl would hit a free throw to ice the game and give the visitors the win.

Madson finished the day with 26 points, including 20 in the second half, to go along with seven rebounds and four assists. Hunter Nielsen also had a big day posting 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting and adding nine boards, while Sagedahl added 15. Patterson once again provided a spark off the bench, scoring nine points, dishing out six assists, while also tallying five steals. \

Bethany next contest is on Friday, where they will take on UW-Superior at 6 p.m. to open the UMAC slate.