ASHLAND, Wis. – Hunter Nielsen finished inside on back-to-back possessions midway through the second half of a 93-57 win over Northland Saturday, with his second bucket bringing his all-time scoring total to 1,276 which sets a new program record for Bethany Lutheran men's basketball. With the win the Vikings move to 15-3 overall and 7-0 in the conference while the LumberJacks fall to 0-18 overall and 0-7 in the UMAC.

The game got off to an even start as it played to a score of 10-10 before an 11-0 run from the Vikings thanks to the efforts of Xavier Patterson and Jax Madson would give them the early edge.

Northland would slowly fight back into the game, cutting the deficit to seven points at 32-25 but Patterson was quick to answer with another bucket inside. The Vikings would get their lead to 10 points in the waning moments of the half, before Patterson would find Drew Sagedahl with the clock winding down with the junior connecting on a triple as the clock struck zero to make the score 39-26 at the half.

Bethany would start to distance themselves in the second half as Patterson and Nielsen would outscore the LumberJacks 13-5 in the opening four and a half minutes to lead 52-31.

After subbing out, Nielsen needed just two points to tie the school record and quickly tied the mark with a layup off an assist from Sagedahl shortly after checking back into the game. After a Northland bucket inside, Sagedahl would find Nielsen again this time with his back to the basket, where the big man would hit a right-handed hook to set the new school mark of 1,276 points. Nielsen passed his former teammate Cire Mayfield (2018-22) with the bucket, who had 1,274 points to finish his Bethany career. 

From there on out the Vikings would run away with things, outscoring Northland 31-18 over the final 11 minutes to claim the win.

Patterson led the Vikings with 20 points in the win while Nielsen added 16. Mason Ackley also eclipsed double figures with 12 while Sagedahl added 11.

The Vikings are now at the halfway point of their conference season and will resume action next Saturday when they travel to Martin Luther College for a 1:45 p.m. matchup.