MANKATO, Minn. - Teon Thomas had 24 points and 10 rebounds for a pair of career highs and his first double-double on Sunday afternoon, but the Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team fell to Simpson 95-89. With the loss the Vikings fall to 2-6 on the year while the Storm move to 2-7. 

It took nearly three minutes for Simpson to score their first basket, as Bethany would hold a 7-0 lead out of the gates but the visitors would fight back and even things at 12 with 14:17 to go thanks to back-to-back three pointers. The Storm bench would then step up and jumpstart the offense, as they would go on a 12-5 run and would hold a 24-17 lead just eight minutes into the contest. 

Simpson would push their lead as far as 28-22 at the midway point of the half, but DJ Akpati would then find his rhythm with back-to-back threes helping Bethany kickstart at 15-5 run and put the Vikings up 37-33. Akpati would connect from long range again a few minutes later to give Bethany their largest lead of the half at seven points, but Simpson would answer back down the stretch and cut the deficit to three points at 47-44 headed to the halftime break. 

The Storm would go on a quick 10-4 run to open the second and would retake the lead at 54-51 thanks to a step back three in front of their own bench. Thomas would then score the game's next eight points to put the Vikings up 59-54 but Simpson would quickly respond and even the game at 59. Things would then stay within a two possession game for the next seven minutes before a Drew Sagedahl and-one put the Vikings up 78-73 with six minutes to go. 

Bethany would score again to push their lead to seven points but two straight buckets from the Storm including an and-one three pointer cut the deficit to one point at 80-79. Thomas would once again come up big for Bethany, as he scored seven Viking points in a row to spearhead a 7-3 run and put the home team up 87-82 with just over three minutes to play. 

A fastbreak layup from the Storm followed a few possessions later by a top of the key three would even things at 87 with just under two to play. Bethany would then nearly get a steal on the next Simpson possession, but a loose ball was corralled by the Storm and tossed ahead for an easy layup as the visitors claimed the two point lead with just over a minute to go. 

Bethany couldn't find the bottom of the net on their next possession and Simpson would split a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left to give Bethany the ball. An impromptu press from the Storm though would force a Viking turnover and they would knock down both free throws to go up five with 18 seconds left. A missed ended up with a Storm rebound and they would ice the game with free throws late to win 95-89.

Along with Thomas the Vikings also got strong contributions from Akpati who had 18 points while Sagedahl added 17. 

Bethany will next be in action on Tuesaday when they travel to Gustavus for a 7 p.m. matchup.