MANKATO, Minn. –  The Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team hosted Gustavus on Saturday afternoon and fell to the Gusties by a score of 88-78. With the loss the Vikings fall to 2-2 on the year while Gustavus moves to 1-3.

"I was proud of our effort today," said head coach Pat Garvin. "That's a tough, physical team and our guys showed a lot of fight. There are a few things we need to shore up as a team and a coaching staff, but we're excited to get back at it tomorrow."

The visitors would open the game with six straight points before a pair of Viking free throws and Dominik Bangu three would halt the run. Gustavus would quickly bounce back, pushing their lead up to 14-7 just over three minutes into the game. Trailing 16-11, Bethany would finally hit their stride offensively going on a 10-1 run to take a 21-17 lead at the midway point of the half. From there on out, the two teams would go punch for punch for the remainder of the half as the Vikings led 42-40 at the break.

The Gusties opened the second half on fire, opening the half on a 9-0 run to lead by seven just two minutes into the half. They would hold onto a lead until the 12:17 mark, when a pair of Bangu free throws put the Vikings up 58-56. Things would stay close until midway through the half before Bethany went cold offensively and GAC took advantage with a 9-3 run to hold a 71-65 lead with six minutes to go. The Vikings would keep things close until Gustavus would score on five straight possessions late to ice the game away and the seal the win.

Xavier Patterson led the Vikings in the contest with 23 points to go along with five assists, while BBangu added 21 points, seven rebounds, a pair of blocks and a pair of steals.

Three point shooting proved to be a big factor in this one, as the Gusties shot 11-of-25 from beyond the arc (44.0%) while the Vikings were 6-of-22 (27.3%).

Bethany will be back at it tomorrow in the Wisconsin Dells as they'll take on Marian University at 1 p.m. at the JustAGame Fieldhouse.