MANKATO, Minn. - The Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team would lead by 21 points at the half over No. 14 UW-La Crosse on Wednesday night, but saw their lead slip away late as UWL would come back to claim a 99-97 win. With the loss the Vikings fall to 1-5 on the year while the Eagles go to 6-1. 

After La Crosse opened the game with the first five points, the Vikings would start to find their groove offensively as they would go on a run to take a 17-13 lead behind eight points from Drew Sagedahl just five minutes in. Bethany's bench would then contribute 10 points in a row to extend their lead to 12 points at 27-15.

After the Eagles fought back to within seven, Bethany would mount their big run as Jax Madson would score the next nine Viking points with DJ Akpati pitching in five in succession to put the home team up 41-25 with 7:52 to go. The run didn't end there though, as the Vikings would tack on nine more points to lead 50-25 with five minutes to go. UWL would then claw back into things, going on a 13-6 run, but an Akpati three with time running down in the frame put the Vikings up 59-38 at the half. 

After Bethany extended their lead to 65-43 just two minutes into the second, they would hit a scoring drought and the Eagles would catch fire as they fought their way back in. Over the next three minutes, UWL would put up 17 unanswered as they would pull the lead all the way down to five points before a Madson three silenced the run. The Eagles continued to apply the pressure to Bethany, but the Vikings stole some momentum back just over midway through the frame when Julias Hendricks would get a takeaway and finish with a slam on the other end to put Bethany up 80-69. 

Things would stay in favor of the Vikings over the next few minutes with a Sagedahl mid range jumper with six minutes to play putting them up 86-78. After a few more minutes of back-and-forth, UWL would hit threes on consecutive possessions and then finish inside as they would pull the deficit to four points at 96-92 with two minutes left. Bethany would then split a pair of free throws before an and-one from the Eagles brought the game to within two at 97-95. After an empty Bethany possession, UWL would then score inside again to even the game before a miss on the other end put the ball back in their hands with the game tied and 40 seconds to play. A backdoor layup would put the visitors on top for the first time since early in the first half, and the ensuing look from Sagedahl rimmed out with 10 to play. The Eagles would then miss both free throws and Madson would have a deep look at the buzzer that would rattle out as UWL claimed the win. 

Madson led the Vikings with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while Akpati scored 20. Sagedahl also neared a double-double for Bethany, as he scored 17 points and added eight rebounds, while Jack Brockmann had a solid game off the bench with nine points, five rebounds, and four assists. 

The Vikings will next be in action on Thursday, December 12th when they travel to Luther for a 7 p.m. contest.