DECORAH, Iowa - The Bethany Lutheran basketball team played a back-and-forth contest with Luther on Thursday night, making a late run to defeat the Norse 76-71. With the win the Vikings improve to 2-5 on the season while Luther falls to 1-8 with the loss.
Drew Sagedahl and
Jax Madson would each connect inside and outside the arc in the game's first three minutes as the Vikings claimed the early 10-4 lead. Luther would spell the run with a three of their own but
DJ Akpati would produce five points to help spur another run and the Vikings would lead 21-12. It would be nearly three minutes before the Vikings scored again, but Sagedahl would end the drought and help start a run with a three that saw them lead 33-22 with eight to go in the half.
Luther would connect on back-to-back threes to draw the lead back to five points before five straight from
Teon Thomas pushed the lead back to 10. The last five minutes of the first half were slow going for the Vikings though, as they were outscored 11-5 during the stretch and led 43-39 at the break.
After a quick start from Luther in the second that saw them go on a 12-7 run and lead 51-50 just three minutes in, the two defenses would begin to hold their opposition in check. It was over three minutes before the next made field goal from either team and it was Bethany who used a 6-0 run to regain their lead. The Norse would pull the deficit back down to three points, but a jumper from Sagedahl followed by a three from Akpati would move Bethany back on top 63-55 with 10 minutes to go.
Three free throws and jumper from the Norse would bring the game back within one possession before Akpati connected from deep again for the 66-60 edge. A
Jack Brockmann free throw with 7:23 to go made the score 67-60, and it would sit at that mark for the next three minutes before a pair of free throws from Luther and a layup inside made it 67-64 with four to go.
Brockmann would make it a two possession game with three minutes to go after a finish inside but a quick answer back from the Norse made it a three point game once again. Sagedahl would then get a tough finish on the left side to go back up five and following two straight stops
Kegan Heiderscheidt would knock down a floater to move the lead to seven with a minute left.
The Norse would hit a three pointer with forty seconds to play but Sagedahl would knock down two straight free throws and the Norse late comeback fell short as Bethany held on for the 76-71 win.
Sagedahl led the Vikings with 19 points and tallied his second career double double in the contest with 11 rebounds. Madson added 17 points for Bethany to go along with eight rebounds while Akpati scored 13.
The Vikings will next be in action on Sunday when they host Simpson at 3 p.m. in their final contest before Christmas break.
