Box Score COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team held a 3-point lead at the half over No. 11 Trinity (TX) on Friday night but they couldn't hold on as they would fall to the Tigers 99-82. With the result the Vikings open the season 0-1 while the Tigers start 1-0. 

It was a slow start for both teams from the field as Jax Madson would connect on the game's first field goal three minutes into the contest before Trinity would quickly answer back with a basket and two straight steals leading to fastbreak layups to go up 7-3. 

The Tigers and Vikings would then play even for the next six minutes before Bethany made their first real run of the contest. Dominik Bangu and Madson would knock down threes on consecutive possessions that would help spark a 13-2 run for Bethany that put them up 29-21 with 7:21 to go in the half. The Tigers would make a run of their own over the next few minutes but Drew Sagedahl would keep the Vikings in it by knocking down three triples as the teams played to a score of 44-44 with just over a minute to go. Madson would break the tie headed to the break as he knocked down his third three of the half with time winding down as the Vikings went to the half up 47-44. Both Madson and Sagedahl scored 13 points in the first 20 minutes for the Vikings. 

Both teams would trade blows early in the second before the Tigers would make their big run. With Bethany leading 56-55, Trinity would score 15 unanswered over the next four minutes to take the 70-56 lead with just over 12 minutes to go. The Vikings would get the deficit back to nine a few minutes later after another tough bucket from Madson, but Trinity responded once again this time with a 12-0 run to take an 84-63 advantage with seven minutes to go. 

With the game seeming to get out of reach Madson once again had the answer for the Vikings, as he connected on his fifth and sixth three pointers of the game to spark a 9-0 run and cut the deficit to 12 points with just under five to play. That was as close as Bethany would get though, as the Tigers were able to close the game out late with some key defensive stops and made free throws to take the win. 

Madson would finish with 24 points in the contest thanks to 6-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc while Sagedahl had 17. Bangu also joined the duo in double figures with 11 while he also added a team-best eight rebounds. 

Bethany will now be back in action tomorrow when they take on Colorado College at 3 p.m. MST/4 p.m. CST.