MANKATO, Minn. – In UMAC semifinal action on Friday night, the Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team hosted Minnesota-Morris and defeated the Cougars 87-74 to advance to the UMAC Championship game. The win, which is the Vikings 22nd of the year, sets a new program record for wins in a season. 

The two teams went back and forth in the early going, with the lead changing hands 10 times in the first seven minutes. Morris would eventually gain a four-point lead at 20-16 before Bethany would score six straight to take a 22-20 advantage. After Morris was able to regain a lead at 31-30, the Vikings went on a 7-0 run capped off by a Justin Schrupp three-pointer with just over a minute left to go up by six. The Cougars would find the bottom of the hoop once more to close out the half as Bethany led by four entering the break.

Coming out of the halftime break, Drew Sagedahl started to take over for the Vikings. He scored 13 points as part of a 24-14 run to help Bethany take a 61-47 lead at the midway point of the second. Morris would respond with six straight points, but Jax Madson would halt the momentum with a three to put Bethany back up by double digits.

The teams then started trading baskets, before the Cougars got an and-one to cut the deficit to seven points with 4:50 remaining. On the ensuing possession Xavier Patterson, who was held scoreless through the first 35 minutes of the contest, hit a huge corner three to put Bethany back up 10 with just over four minutes left.  Patterson then assisted on the next Vikings basket before getting a pair of tough finishes going to his left to help Bethany keep a 12-point lead with 1:52 left. After a miss on the offensive end Morris started to apply extra pressure, but Drew Sagedahl would shake his defender and find Hunter Nielsen who dished to a wide open Mason Ackley for a monster jam to all but cap this one off. Leading by 14, Bethany wouldn't allow the Cougars back within single digits as they took the win.

Sagedahl had an efficient day for the Vikings, going 8-of-13 from the field to lead all scorers with 24 points. All four other Bethany starters finished in double figures with Nielsen pacing the rest with 14 points, while Ackley added 12. Patterson finished his day with 11, all in the final five minutes, while Madson had 10 points, eight rebounds, and six assists.

The Vikings will be back in action on Sunday, when they host UW-Superior in the UMAC Championship game at 2 p.m.