MANKATO, Minn. - Coming off consecutive NCAA Tournament berth's and UMAC title wins, the Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team will once again face a tall task this season, opening their campaign this weekend. The Vikings, who earned votes in the D3hoops.com top 25 season opening poll, will travel to Colorado College to play two games Friday and Saturday, taking on No. 11 Trinity (TX) on Friday at 5:30 p.m. (MST) before a match with the host school on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. (MST).



Bethany achieved its first perfect UMAC slate last season when they went 14-0 in the conference, while the team's 24-4 record also set a new program mark for the most wins in a season. Head coach Pat Garvin, who now enters his fifth year in charge of the Vikings, has liked what he has seen through the first few weeks of practice.

"I've been really happy, as most coaches probably are this time of year. Every year trying to recreate the mold a little bit is unique, we have a lot of talented returners and new faces as well so blending those guys in has been a fun challenge. I think we have a really tight group both in and out of the locker room so it's a fun time of year as we get closer to games."

The Vikings will have a different look this season as they lost four key contributors to graduation and will have minutes up for grabs for returners and incoming players. They'll return three players that averaged double figures in 2023-24, in Drew Sagedahl, Jax Madson, and Dominik Bangu, while Teon Thomas and Kegan Heiderscheidt also appeared in every game for Bethany last season. Coach Garvin is excited about what he has seen from a leadership aspect from this years team and is excited to see them grow throughout the season.

"No year to year is ever the same, but I've been really happy with our leadership and some of our new guys and their buy in so far. It's fun to see this group grow, become cohesive, and make things their own and do it their way. It's been a great group to work with and will continue to be."

The Vikings will face a difficult non-conference schedule before opening UMAC play, with four teams receiving votes in the top 25 including #11 Trinity #2 UW-Platteville. Bethany opens up UMAC play on January 8th as they host Northwestern and Garvin sees the challenge that lies ahead once again.

"This is probably the toughest non-conference schedule that we have played in my time here, so it'll be a big challenge for us. Like always though, our program tries to focus on the day to day process and I think that the tough schedule early on will help us prepare for what's going to be another really good year in the UMAC. I've said this a couple times in my time here but I think it's is shaping up to be the best the UMAC's been. So we'll have our hands full night in and night out but we got a lot of work to do between now and then."

2024-25 Roster

2024-25 Schedule