MANKATO, Minn. – The Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team Saturday concluded their regular season with an 80-71 win over North Central. With the win the Vikings head into the conference tournament at 21-4 overall and 12-2 in the UMAC while the Rams conclude their season at 14-10 overall and 8-6 in the conference.

NCU jumped out to a 5-0 lead from the get go and built upon that for the next five-plus minutes eventually holding a 16-8 lead with 11:54 left in the half. The Vikings would storm back though, with Justin Schrupp hitting a pair of triples as part of a 16-4 run to put Bethany up 24-20 with 8:17 left. The Vikings wouldn't stop their run there though, as they answered a Ram basket in the paint with eight more points to go up 32-22 with 5:05 left. NCU would buckle down defensively in the final minutes, allowing no Bethany points and scoring 11 unanswered to take a one-point lead into the break.

Jax Madson scored seven straight points out of the break matched by just two from the Rams to give Bethany a 39-35 lead just two minutes into the second half. The teams would then go back and forth for the next 10 minutes with NCU eventually tying the game up at 58 apiece with 8:26 remaining. After the teams would each put in two points to bring the score to 60 each, the Vikings would rattle off 12 straight and hold North Central scoreless for nearly six minutes to hold a 72-60 lead with two minutes to play. The Rams would cut the deficit to eight on a few occasions late, but Bethany would make their free throws to seal the win.

Madson and Hunter Nielsen led the offensive attack for the Vikings, tallying 17 points apiece with Madson also dishing out five assists. Mason Ackley and Xavier Patterson each finished with 11 points in the contest while Riley Ashburn once again hit double digits off the bench with 10 points.  

The Vikings will host Minnesota-Morris on Wednesday at 7 p.m. for the first round of the UMAC Playoffs.