January 25

Box Score

Bethany Lutheran College outscored Northland College by 15 points in the second half by holding the Jack's to 25.9% shooting in a 66-51 win in Kendrigan Gymnasium.

With the win, the Vikings moved to 5-12 overall and 4-2 in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference.  The LumberJacks dropped their sixth straight to fall to 2-13 and remained winless in the UMAC at 0-6.

The difference in the game was the start of both halves as Northland limped out the gates.  In the first half, Bethany Lutheran jumped out to an early 7-0 in the first three minutes.  The Jack's did respond with a 17-3 run over the next six plus minutes to take a 17-10 lead, but the slow start would come back to haunt them.  Trailing 20-13 with 6:57 left, the Vikings closed the half on a 15-8 surge, including a three-pointer as time expired, to tie the game 28-28 at halftime.

The first eight minutes of the second half made the start of the game look tame.  Bethany Lutheran used the momentum from the fial stages of the first 20 minutes to take control of the game.  Zeb Woiak (Nekoosa, WI) spilt a pair of free-throws at the 18:41 mark to give Northland a brief 29-28 lead.  It would also be their last.

Tommy Saffert drained two three-pointers that helped the Vikings score the game's next eight points.  Trailing 36-29 with 13:13 left, Jack's coach Rob Robinson was hit with two technical fouls that put Saffert at the line where he drained all four free-throws to give Bethany Lutheran a 40-29 lead.  Jordan Arneson (Madison, WI) answered back with a three, but that was countered as the Vikings scored seven more in a row to take a commanding 47-32 lead with 11:30 remaining in the game.

The LumberJacks did have one last spurt in them as a jumper from Woiak and three's by Dylan Ring (Eau Claire, WI) and Joey Brennan (Ashland, WI) brought Northland within 47-40 with 9:56 left.  But once again, the Vikings seized the momentum back as they rattled off seven straight and to take a 54-40 lead with 7:43 remaining.  From there, the Jack's would get no closer than 13 the rest of the way.

Bethany Lutheran shot just 38.1% from the field, but connected on 12-29 from three-point range.  Northland struggled as well as they shot 35.6% and were only 6-23 from downtown.  Arneson and Michael Mackey (Holman, WI) led the Jack's with 13 and 12 points respectively.

Northland hosts Martin Luther College tomorrow at 5:00 PM in Kendrigan Gymnasium.