MANKATO, Minn. - The Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team won its third straight contest on Wednesday night and its eighth game in their last nine as they claimed a 90-83 victory over Northwestern. With the win the Vikings move to 11-11 overall and 8-3 in the UMAC while the Eagles fall to 11-11 overall and 6-5 in the conference.
Northwestern carried the early momentum in this one, as they scampered out to an early 22-13 lead just over seven minutes in.
Julias Hendricks and
Kegan Heiderscheidt would then give Bethany some quality minutes off the bench, as they combined for 13 points to spark a 13-2 run and put the Vikings in front 26-24 midway through the half. Bethany would continue to push their lead as
Drew Sagedahl and
Jax Madson would get in on the scoring to put them up by six with six minutes to go, but UNW would close the frame on a 14-7 run to claim a 43-42 lead at the halftime break.
The Eagles would continue to push their advantage early in the second half and it was a fastbreak layup with 15:44 to go that would put them up by six at 55-49. Sagedahl would quell the storm with a pair of free throws though before Madson connected twice from long range to put Bethany back in front 57-55. The Eagles would reclaim the lead midway through the half, but
DJ Akpati would finish at the rim three times in three minutes to even the score at 68 apiece.
Akapti would break a 70-70 stalemate a few minutes later with another tough finish before Sagedahl was fouled beyond the arc and converted all three to make the lead five. After a pair of UNW free throws
Dominik Bangu would connect on a triple to make it a six point game, but back-to-back long threes from UNW evened things at 78. Sagedahl then connected on a leaning midrange jumper to put the Vikings up top, and after each team traded a free throw, Madson would connect again from long range on an inside out three to make it 84-79 with two minutes left. Leading by two possessions with time running out, the Vikings would convert all six of their free throws in the final 35 seconds to seal the victory 90-83.
Madson led Bethany with 25 points in the contest and did most of his damage from long range as he converted 6-of-14 shots from deep. Sagedahl added 24 points and a game-best nine boards, while Akpati also eclipsed double digits with 10 points.
The Vikings will now be back in action on Saturday as they travel to UW-Superior for a 3 p.m. contest.
