NEW ULM, Minn. - The Martin Luther College men's basketball team was unable to keep up with a talented Bethany Lutheran College team in a 90-55 loss on Wednesday.

The Knights started strong and trailed by only one point at 27-26 with 8:50 to play in the first half, but the Vikings closed the half with a 22-3 run to take a 20-point edge into the locker room.

The Knights were able to slow the Vikings' offense down a bit in the second half, but were held to 34.3 percent shooting from the field on offense and were unable to make up any ground on the big first half deficit. 

BLC finished the game shooting 47.8 percent and dominated inside to the tune of 50 points in the paint. 

Ian Paulsen led MLC with 15 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in the game. Richard Eckmann added eight points thanks to a pair of first-half three-point field goals. Jacob Price had a strong game off the bench with seven points in nine minutes.

The Knights fell to 1-8 on the season and 1-2 in UMAC play with the loss. BLC improved to 5-5 overall and 3-0 in UMAC play with the win.

MLC will return to action on Saturday, December 16, when it travels to UW-Superior for a game scheduled to tip off at 3 p.m.