Box Score PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team would take on No. 11 UW-Platteville in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night and the Pioneers would come away from the contest with an 89-52 win. With the win UWP moves to 24-4 overall and advances to the second round while the Vikings conclude the season at 24-4. The 24 wins are the most in a season in Vikings program history. 



The Vikings got out to a slow start in this one as UWP would jump out to a 6-0 lead before a Jax Madson banked in three at the 16:37 mark would put them on the board. Max Love of the Pioneers would then make sure they maintained their lead, as he would score eight points as part of a 14-4 run to help them to a 20-7 advantage.

Mason Ackley would then finish inside twice as part of a 6-0 Bethany run that also included a Dominik Bangu steal and dunk to make the score 20-13. The home team always seemed to have the answer though, as they would score 11 of the next 14 to hold a 31-16 lead with eight minutes to go.

After the Pioneers would extend their lead to 17 points with 2:36 to go in the half, the Vikings would salvage the half with a late run. Madson and Drew Sagedahl would each knock down three pointers in the spurt before a Sagedahl layup with time expiring brought the score to 42-31 at the break.

Coming out of the half, the teams would trade baskets early before UWP would once again show their strength. They would score 14 straight with Love connecting on two more triples in the stretch to hold a 58-33 lead with 14:40 to go. Sagedahl would end the run with a pair of free throws but the Pioneers would continue to push the advantage, extending their lead to 70-39 with 9:26 to play.

The Vikings would find their way to the line a few times to end the drought but UWP would keep pressing the advantage from there as they went on to claim the 89-52 win.

Three Vikings would finish in double figures as Sagedahl, Hunter Nielsen, and Xavier Patterson all eclipsed double digits. Sagedahl led the Vikings with 13 while Nielsen and had 12 to go along with a game-high 13 rebounds.