New Ulm, MN - MLC entered their contest against Bethany with a road win at Maranatha Baptist on Tuesday. The two squads faced off on January 7th where Bethany defeated the Knights 103-48. On Saturday, MLC had their Parent's Day and gave the Vikings a spirited first half only to fall short to their rival 95-61.

Neither team could get into much of an offensive rhythm in the first few minutes as Ezra Blumer scored the first bucket of the game for MLC at the 15:17 mark, while Bethany continued to miss outside jumpers. The Vikings would soon get it together offensively when Justin Schrupp hit a 3-pointer from the wing at the 13:37 mark, giving his team a much needed spark. From there, Bethany would build up a 43-22 advantage going into halftime. 

    Before the second half started, the Knights would Jim Unke's wife (Lori) the Jim Unke Memorial Scholarship check, which raised $45,000. Both teams would remain present to pay tribute to the former AD of MLC and showed their support towards the new scholarship in his name.

    Following halftime, Bethany decided to push the pace on every rebound and found success inside the paint, making crisp passes throughout their team. The Vikings utilized their deep bench and eventually wore out MLC in the second half, cruising to the 95-61 win. Bethany was led by Drew Sagedahl who scored 15 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Thomas Balge led the way for MLC, finishing with 17 points and went 7-8 from the free throw line. The freshman guard provided a positive side to the loss for MLC, attacking the hoop with confidence where he would finish strong.

As a team, MLC shot 29.2 percent from the field, while Bethany shot 50 percent.

MLC (2-16, 0-8) heads out to UW-Superior on Friday February 3rd at 5:30 p.m. where the Knights will search for their first UMAC win of the season.