MANKATO, Minn. -- The Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team (10-9 overall, 6-3 UMAC) defeated Northland College (4-16, 3-6) 106-71 Friday evening. The 106 points scored were a season-high for the Vikings as it avenged its loss to the LumberJacks on Dec. 11.
BLC roared out of the gates and took a 52-27 lead into intermission. Junior Justin Schrupp (Danube, Minn.) led the Vikings with 11 points in the half as he connected on three of the team's seven first-half triples.
Senior Cire Mayfield (St. Louis Park, Minn.) registered six assists before the break, as Bethany was a plus-22 in his 15 minutes on the floor.
Defensively, BLC had seven first-half steals and held the LumberJacks to 12-39 shooting overall (30.8%), including 2-11 from deep before halftime.
The Vikings and the Jacks went back-and-forth to begin the second half until an 11-2 Northland run cut the deficit to 22 at 78-56 with eight minutes to play. The Jacks never got closer than that as BLC soon responded with an 11-0 run to put the game away.
Hot shooting was the story of the night as the Vikings finished the game 39-76 from the field (51.3%) and 12-27 (44.4%) from three-point range.
Bethany benefited from its shooting performance by recording 24 assists, seven more than its season average. Meanwhile, Northland was held to 11 assists on the night. BLC also outrebounded the Jacks 50-37.
Schrupp led all scorers in the game with 18 points.
Freshman Riley Ashburn (Renville, Minn.) recorded his first career double double, as he finished with a career-high 15 points to complement his 10 rebounds.
Junior Hunter Nielsen (New Prague, Minn.) finished one rebound shy from a double double with his 14-point, nine-rebound effort.
Senior Jared Milinkovich (New Prague, Minn.) rounded out those in double digits with 10 points.
Mayfield and classmate Brian Smith (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) each had seven points and seven assists in the game.
The Vikings will look to build on their four-game winning streak Saturday versus Wisconsin-Superior. Tipoff is set for 4:45 p.m.
