ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Bethany men's basketball led for a majority of the first half in Friday night's season opener, but No. 10 Washington University went on a roll in the final 20 minutes for a decisive 90-69 win at the 42nd Annual Lopata Classic. The Vikings will take on Transylvania University at 2 p.m. Saturday in the consolation game.Â
Isaiah Schafer got the offense rolling with a three on the Vikings' first possession of the game and a layup by Max Briggs gave the visitors an early 5-2 lead. Mason King then hit a pair of threes for a 14-13 advantage, which sparked a 21-9 run over the next 10 minutes. King hit his third trey of the half at the 5:22 mark, giving the Vikings their largest lead of the game at 29-20.Â
The Bears started to chip away, though, and finished the half on a 13-6 run as Bethany led 35-33 at the break. The Vikings shot 48.3 percent in the opening 20 minutes and were 5-for-9 from long range. The defense limited the home team to 36.4 percent shooting.Â
Bethany maintained the lead for the better part of the first five minutes of the second half, highlighted by a fast break dunk by Jack Brockmann to go up 44-41 with 16:40 on the clock, but the Bears responded with a 16-3 run and never looked back. WashU held a double digit lead for the final 10 minutes and led by as much as 26 points.Â
Briggs led the offense with 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting. King added 15 points off the bench and shot 4-of-6 from long range. Landon Thomer and Cole Johnson led the team on the glass with five rebounds apiece.Â
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