NEW ULM, Minn. - The Martin Luther College men's basketball team could not slow down Bethany Lutheran College in a 98-55 loss on Saturday to start hte new year.

The teams went back and forth to start the game with the Knights trailing 19-17 after nearly nine minutes of action, but the Vikings broke the game open with a 15-0 run, and then closed the half on another 17-6 spurt to take a 59-33 lead into the break.

The Vikings went cold from the outside in the second half as the Knights held them to 31.3 percent from the field, but MLC could not answer on the other end, shooting just 25.7 percent as the Vikings continued to pull away en route to the win.

BLC relied heavily on the three-point shot against the Knights' zone, making 19 of 55 attempts and outscoring MLC 57-12 from downtown. In the first half, the Vikings shot 11-26 from distance as they built the lead.

Jack Heichelbech led MLC with 14 points, while Caleb Westra added 12 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

MLC fell to 1-11 overall and 0-3 in UMAC play in defeat. BLC improved to 6-7 on the season and 2-1 in league play with the win.

The Knights will return to action on Tuesday, January 11, when they host Maranatha Baptist University in a game scheduled to start at 6:45 p.m.