MANKATO, Minn. – University of Northwestern Men's Basketball traveled to Betheny Lutheran College on Friday afternoon for the first of the final two games of the regular season this weekend. The Eagles fell 87-73 to the regionally-ranked Vikings, with BLC clinching the UMAC Regular Season Championship. Nonetheless, the Eagles secured a postseason berth to the UMAC Tournament due to the other results around the conference. UNW will be either the #3 or #4 seed in the conference playoffs depending on the results of Saturday's games.
 
Bethany Lutheran started strong out the gate, going up 10-4 in first few minutes. UNW then started to catch fire as the Eagles went on a 25-to-8 run, going from a six-point deficit to an 11-point lead in the span of nine minutes and nine seconds.

Trailing 29-18 with 7:40 to go in the opening half, the Vikings started to rally. BLC answered the Eagles' big run with a 22-to-6 run through the remainder of the first half as the Vikings went up 40-35 at the half.
 
In the second half, the Eagles cut the Vikings' lead down to four points twice with two Kyle Kaemingk (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) three-pointers in the opening minutes. Bethany Lutheran would weather the Eagles' attack with strong shooting of their own to maintain their lead all the way to the final buzzer.
 
Northwestern had a strong game shooting from three-point range, making 40.0 percent (10-of-25) from beyond the arc while Bethany Lutheran shot 31.0 percent (9-of-29). The Viking had more success scoring overall, making 47.9 percent (34-of-71) of their shots from the floor while the Eagles made 40.3 percent (29-of-72).
 
UNW outscored BLC in second-chance opportunities 14-to-8. The Vikings, however, had the better game in points off of turnovers (19-to-7), fast break points (15-to-2), and points in the paint (44-to-30).
 
Kaemingk led the Eagles with 23 points in the game, doing damage from long-range on a 5-for-9 clip. Henry Fahnbulleh (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) led UNW with 13 boards and earned a double-double with 10 points. Elijah Burns (Grand Prairie, Texas/Roseville Area) scored 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting and had six rebounds. Parker Behne (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) scored 11 points, going 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. Seth Fuqua (Colorado Springs, Colo./The Vanguard School) had a team-high six assists.
 
Up next, Northwestern will take on the Martin Luther College Knights on the road at 3:00 P.M. on Saturday, February 18 for their regular-season finale.