New Ulm, MN - The Martin Luther College men's basketball team played some of its best basketball in the first half of its game against Bethany on Wednesday night. However, the Vikings regrouped on both ends of the court in the second half to surge past the Knights 88-74.

The LSC gymnasium was packed and ready to go for this one, and it translated to a hot start for the Knights, who scored 11 unanswered points after Bethany scored on the opening possession of the contest. MLC was hitting tough contested shots over the Vikings' defense, whether inside or out, and shot over 48 percent from the field. 

Free throw shooting was a vital part of the Knights' 46-41 advantage at the half, as MLC shot 12-of-14, while Bethany went 1-of-5 from the charity stripe.

As the second half got going, Bethany made adjustments defensively to limit and prevent MLC from attacking the hoop as they did in the first half. As a result, their defense led to their offense, and the shots that didn't go in for them went in later on.

Bethany managed to take their first lead in quite a while at the 15:47 mark of the second half (53-53), but the Knights retook the lead following a Seth Veers "and-one" and an Ethan Kjenstad 3-pointer from the corner to make it 59-58 near the 12:30 mark.

Despite MLC staying in the game, that'd be the last lead for them as the Vikings seized the control with multiple 3-pointers and buckets near the basket.

Bethany picked up double-double efforts from their backcourt in Jax Madson (26 points, 10 rebounds) and Drew Sagedahl (16 points, 10 rebounds). The Vikings improved their shooting from the free throw line in the second half as well and made 16 from the line.

Adam Loberger put up 22 points on five 3-pointers made to pace the Knights, while Thomas Balge finished with 16 points. Benjamin Pearson led MLC in rebounding with 11 boards, while Luke Fix was active as well on the glass, coming down with eight.

MLC (7-13, 2-7) will look to add a third conference victory for their season on Saturday, February 8, at 3 p.m. when they travel to UW-Superior.