WINONA, Minn. - The Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team erased a 10-point halftime deficit Thursday night and went on to defeat Saint Mary's 95-94 in overtime, with Jax Madson scoring his 1,000th career point in the process. With the win the Vikings go to 1-2 on the season while the Cardinals fall to 2-1. 

It was a fast start for SMU as they would knock down three early three pointers and get three points the old fashioned way to take a 12-6 lead just over three minutes in. DJ Akpati would then propel the Vikings on a 12-5 run with eight points with Drew Sagedahl finishing a putback dunk in the run to give Bethany the lead. 

Saint Mary's would respond, catching fire from the floor to turn a one point deficit into an 11 point lead over a six minute span. Sagedahl and Akpati would go on a 6-0 run by themselves to bring the deficit to five points at 36-31 with five to play, but SMU would outscore the Vikings 10-5 in the final five minutes to take a 46-36 lead into the half. 

The Cardinals would hold onto their lead in the early portion of the second half until Kegan Heiderscheidt helped the Vikings to 11-3 run with seven points to even the score at 59 apiece. From there on out, neither team would gain much of an advantage with the two teams trading leads back and forth until they met at a score of 81 with four minutes to go. 

Teon Thomas would get his first basket of the contest and it was a big one with a tough and-one with two minutes to go to put Bethany up by three, with free throws keeping them in front until there was under a minute to play. With the Vikings up by two with 30 seconds left, Saint Mary's would get a bucket to even the game with time dwindling down and Sagedahl's shot with a few seconds left on the other end would bounce out and we would head to overtime even at 87. 

Saint Mary's would take a 91-89 lead just over a minute into the overtime frame, with two Sagedahl free throws evening the score at 91 with 3 1/2 to go. SMU would then split a pair of free throws with Madson connecting on a pair of his own to go up 93-92 midway through the extra period. The scoring would then halt until there were 40 seconds left, but a costly offensive rebound would result in a SMU and-one to go up 94-93. They would miss the ensuing free throw with Sagedahl attacking the basket on the other end and drawing a foul to head to the line. The senior would knock down both with 18 seconds left and Bethany would lock down defensively on the other end and force a Cardinal missed shot with time expring to claim the 95-94 victory. 

Sagedahl finished with 30 points in the contst to go along with nine rebounds while Akpati and Madson finished with 21 and 18, respectively. Heiderscheidt also had a solid night all-around, scoring eights and adding team-highs in both rebounds with 10 and assists with six. 

The Vikings will next be in action on Wednesday when they head to Carleton for a 7 p.m. contest.