MANKATO, Minn. – For the third time in program history and first time since 2017-18, the Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team claimed a UMAC regular season Championship on Friday night with an 87-73 win over Northwestern. With the win the Vikings move to 20-4 overall and 11-2 in the UMAC and will be the conference's No. 1 seed in the UMAC Tournament, while the Eagles fall to 13-11 overall and 8-5 in conference play.
"I'm really proud of these guys and so happy for them," said Head Coach Pat Garvin. "They've worked really hard all year long and with our roster being over half new, these guys gelled together so quick and played for each other and it's been a joy to watch them."
"I'm so happy for our seniors Carter [Hansen], Cooper [Hansen], Tom [Datka], and Aleck [Sharma]," said Garvin. "Guys that maybe don't get all the minutes but they show up every day, work hard, and are some of the best teammates and leaders I've ever been around and they really deserve this."
Bethany was able to get out to a hot start in Friday's contest, taking a 16-11 lead thanks to eight points from Xavier Patterson. That lead was quickly evaporated by the Eagles though, as Northwestern would catch fire and go on a 18-2 run over the next five and a half minutes to take a 29-18 advantage with 7:40 remaining in the first half. The Vikings would answer back, making seven of their next nine shot attempts while holding UNW to four points to tie things up at 35 with 2:51 to play. Bethany would continue to play stout defensively, holding the Eagles scoreless for the remainder of the half with Drew Sagedahl connecting on five free throws to send the Vikings to the break up 40-35.
Out of the halftime break Jax Madson started to take over for the Vikings, scoring 16 points in the first 6:56 of play to help push them to a 66-48 lead. The Eagles would respond to bring the lead down to 13 but Hunter Nielsen would finish a bucket inside before Justin Schrupp buried a three on the ensuing possession to put Bethany back up 18 with 10 minutes to go.
The Eagles didn't give in, as they would go on 13-6 run to trim the lead to 11 with 6:05 remaining before Drew Sagedahl would end the run with a tough jumper in the paint and Nielsen made his way to the free throw line for a pair to give the Vikings a 15-point cushion with five minutes left. From there on out, the Vikings would hold strong defensively and coast their way to the win to claim the regular season title.
Bethany was led by Madson with 19 points to go along with five steals, while Xavier Patterson had 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting. The Vikings got a huge boost off the bench from Riley Ashburn who connected on all seven of his field goals for 14 points and added five rebounds, including three offensive boards. Sagedahl and Nielsen rounded out the Bethany scorers in double figures with 12 and 10, respectively.
The Vikings will be back at it tomorrow when they host North Central for a 3 p.m. contest and will recognize the aforementioned seniors for Senior Day.
