Mankato, MN - The MLC men's basketball team defeated Bethany 77-73 on Wednesday evening in a high-intensity road game. With the win, the Knights complete the season sweep of the Vikings for the first time since the 2005 season. MLC edged out Bethany 78-72 two weeks ago in New Ulm for its first win over its rival to the east since 2015.

MLC almost earned a wire-to-wire win, leading for over 38 of the 40 minutes of game time. The Knights went up by as many as 16 points in the first half, before heading into the locker room up 45-33. The Knights got many good looks to drop and shot over 62 percent in the half to guide them to a double-digit lead at half.

Bethany came out in the second half with a comeback and put some game pressure on the Knights, tying the game 60-60 with just over seven minutes left on the clock. Despite the Vikings' rally, Benjamin Pearson gathered the Knights together and connected on multiple pull-up jumpers to create some distance between the two teams. As a result, MLC went up seven points on several occasions.

MLC made it 75-70 with 49 seconds remaining, as Adam Loberger connected on a step-back jumper over his defender. Luke Fix (14 points, 5 rebounds) was aggressive and grabbed a critical offensive rebound off a missed free-throw attempt. Fix added a free throw afterwards to keep the Vikings out of it.

Pearson (14 points, 11 rebounds) recorded his seventh double-double of the season. Loberger led the Knights in points (15) and assists (5), with both sophomores picking up three steals apiece. Trey Lauber put up 10 points, while Benjamin Vasold made crucial plays, especially in the second half, finishing with nine points.

MLC will look to keep the momentum going when they host UW-Superior for Parents' Day at 4:45 p.m. on Saturday, February 7.