Mankato, Minn. – The University of Northwestern men's basketball team kept the undefeated streak rolling with a 63-54 victory over Bethany Lutheran College Friday night. With a close first half, the Eagles slowly gained momentum in the second half, winning their ninth Upper Midwest Athletic Conference contest.

BLC took an early six point lead due to Nick Sanborn's two layups three minutes into the game. Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) responded with a three point jump shot and layup as the Eagles trailed 8-7. Three minutes passed until the Vikings made a jump shot, leading to a small offensive push, bringing them to a five point lead with nine minutes on the clock. As the Eagles struggled to fill the gap, Cody Sprenger (Grey Eagle, Minn./Long Prairie-Grey Eagle) and Will Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville)'s pair of threes gave the visitors a momentum boost, reclaiming the 20-19 lead with four minutes left in the first period. Porter Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School) added some cushion to their lead with a shot from downtown  with :37 left, leading to a halftime score of  27-23.

Bethany slowly brought the Eagles' lead down, but Cody Sprenger (Grey Eagle, Minn./Long Prairie-Grey Eagle) drained a three with 11 minutes on the clock putting the score at 35-29. Porter Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School) added a three pointer with 7:10 left in the game as the Eagles inched ahead of the Vikings taking a 47-40 lead. Feeling the heat, Carney made a shot from behind the arc with 5:46 on the clock, as UNW continued to fight for larger margin. With the clock ticking away, Matt Watnemo (Moorhead, Minnesota/Moorhead High School)'s layup put the Eagles at their highest advantage with 13 points over BLC. Five additional free throws ended the game with a final score of 63-54.

Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) led the squad with 15 points, as Cody Sprenger (Grey Eagle, Minn./Long Prairie-Grey Eagle) (12), Will Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) (11), and Porter Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School) (10) followed closely behind. Gisler also gained six rebounds.  Bethany's Eichten led with 10 points, with Brandts and Kelson both scoring eight points. The Purple and Gold shot 45.3 percent of field goals, compared to 37 percent for the Vikings. Both teams struggled behind the arc as the Eagles posted 29.6 percent compared to BLC's 20 percent. 22 points were scored off Bethany's bench, while the Eagles scored 15 off theirs.

Northwestern (11-9, 9-0 UMAC) will play tomorrow night at 5 p.m. at Martin Luther College in New Ulm, ending their final conference road trip this season.