MANKATO, Minn. – Hitting the road for the seventh time this season, the North Central University men's basketball clashed with the Bethany Lutheran College (BLC) Vikings in Mankato, Minnesota on Wednesday night. In a high-scoring affair, the Rams fell short to the hot-shooting Vikings (10-5, 5-1 UMAC) by a final score of 73-94.

Game Recap
 
The Rams battled for a majority of the first half by trading leads halfway through. Right out of the gate, multiple threes were knocked down by multiple sharpshooters for both the Rams and Vikings. Offensively, it was Riley Loukinen who managed to get the game going for NCU by hitting their first three of the game. After generating a slight lead throughout the first few minutes of the contest, BLC found themselves up 14-8 at the 14:30 mark. For the next five minutes of the half, the Blue and Gold found a reassurance of offense led by Seth Fuqua, who knocked down a three of his own and a pair of free throws and to spark the Rams to their biggest lead of the game of 24-19 with 9:53 to go left in the half. After battling it out for the remainder of the first half behind 19 points from Fuqua, the Vikings were able to head into halftime up 47-38 fueled by hitting 9 threes on a scorching 60% shooting.

The Vikings managed to carry their momentum into the second half by continuing their incredible shooting performance. The hot-shooting guided the Vikings to building on their lead early on. After a couple of valiant efforts by the Rams halfway through second half led by a few more Seth Fuqua threes, the game was eventually out of reach for the Blue and Gold. BLC recorded 17 total made baskets on a 49% shooting clip in the half and never let the Rams within a 9 point spread.

Key Performer(s)

• Seth Fuqua highlighted the bright spot offensively for the Rams by recording 29 points on 10-15 total shooting (5-8 from three).
• Making an impact off the bench for the Rams was Dolan Tierney, who posted his best performance of the season by posting 9 points in the second half, fueled by 6 free made throws. 

Looking Ahead

NCU men's hoops will head back to Minneapolis where they are set to face the University of Northwestern, St. Paul Eagles this coming Saturday afternoon at 3:00pm. The Rams will be in search of their second UMAC win of the season against a talented Eagles squad. Fans can stay posted to everything NCU men's basketball and enjoy the live stream of the upcoming game right here at ncurams.com.