MANKATO, Minn.: Mac Reykdal (Washburn, Wis./Washburn) and Montroy Scott (Fridley, Minn./Columbia Heights) combined for 51 points, but the UW-Superior men's basketball team fell at Bethany Lutheran, 97-84, on Saturday at North Gym.

Reykdal scored a game-high 26 points on 11-for-18 shooting and Scott added 25, making nine of his 14 attempts. Bethany Lutheran, though, shot 61 percent from the field as a team, placing five different players in double figures, to earn its seventh consecutive win.  

The Vikings scored 52 points to pull away in the second half, improving to 10-5 overall and 5-1 in the UMAC. Adam Arroyo (St. Paul, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran Academy) scored 10 points for the Yellowjackets, marking his second career double-digit scoring effort, as UWS fell to 2-12 overall and 1-5 in the league.
 
Superior held early leads of 3-2, 5-4 and 7-6 before the Vikings scored five consecutive points to give themselves some breathing room. Scott knocked down a free throw and Reykdal canned a 3-pointer on the next possession to pull the 'Jackets back to within one at 12-11 with 15:30 to go in the half.
 
After a pair of Bethany Lutheran free throws, John Pioro (Proctor, Minn./Proctor) hit a three to knot the game at 14 with 14:20 to play. Blake Lindstrom responded with a trey to give the Vikings a 17-14 advantage, but Reykdal and Scott converted consecutive jumpers – the last of the two after a Lucas LaMue (De Pere, Wis./Bay Port) steal – to take the lead back 18-17, at the 12:43 mark.
 
The UWS lead grew to three at 20-17 on a pair from the line by Scott, but Lindstrom and Austin Bauer combined for five points in a row for a 22-20 edge with 11:24 left in the half.
 
Scott responded by hitting a jumper and getting fouled. He knocked in the ensuing free throw to put his team up, 23-22 – the last lead it enjoyed on the day. Trenton Krueger dropped in a layup midway through the half for a 24-23 BLC lead, which the Vikings extended to as many as nine points as the period progressed. 
 
Reykdal and Arroyo hit a 3-pointers two minutes apart to cut the BLC lead to 41-38 with 54 seconds to play in half, but four straight home points made for a 45-38 halftime deficit.
 
Krueger and Bauer gave the Vikings the first four points of the second half to push it to a double-figure lead for the first time at 49-38 a minute into the period. Trailing, 54-40, UWS got a Brody Eldien (Proctor, Minn./Proctor) three, and, after a BLC bucket, a Reykdal jumper as well as another triple to shave the deficit to eight at 56-48 with 16:30 left.
 
Jake Dale had a layup to restore the Vikings' double-digit lead before Arroyo hit another three to move it to a seven-point game with 14:50 to play. The Yellowjackets got as close as seven on two more occasions in the half, but couldn't get cut into the lead further.
 
The Vikings led by as many as 19 points over the game's final 13-and-a-half minutes and cruised the rest of the way.
 
Krueger and Jared Merchant tied for a team-high 18 points, while Lindstrom and Cire Mayfield had 11 points apiece. Dale finished with 10 points.
 
UWS shot 51.7 percent for the game and outrebounded the Vikings, 34-23.
 
The 'Jackets return home to host Northwestern Wednesday at 7:15 p.m.