MANKATO, Minn. – The Yellowjacket men's basketball team had a lot on the line Saturday afternoon, as they closed out the 2019-20 regular season with a road game at Bethany Lutheran.
 
With Northwestern securing a share of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference regular season championship with their win over the Yellowjackets Wednesday, the Yellowjackets and Bethany Lutheran were playing what amounted to a playoff preview, with the winner Saturday getting the chance to host the other in the second round of the UMAC tournament.
 
Chalk one up for the Vikings.
 
The Yellowjackets were never able to get on track Saturday, falling 92-75 before a crowd of 400 at North Gym in Mankato, Minn. With the loss, the Yellowjackets (16-9, 13-3 UMAC) fall to the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament, and will see the Vikings again at North Gym Feb. 26.
 
Freshman Eli Vogel (Appleton, Wis./Appleton West) got the scoring started Saturday, making a layup 1:17 into the game. That's the last time the Yellowjackets would hold the lead. Shooting 66.7 percent in the first half, Bethany Lutheran moved ahead of the Yellowjackets when Cire Mayfield hit a three 30 seconds later and never looked back.
 
The lead would hit double digits before the midpoint of the first half, but the Yellowjackets started to warm up and cut the deficit back down to six when Thomas Robarge (Chippewa Falls, Wis./Chippewa Falls Senior) hit a three with 8:17 to go. Bethany Lutheran would answer, closing the half on a 6-0 run and leading the Yellowjackets 47-32 at the break.
 
Things went from bad to worse for the Yellowjackets in the second half. Both teams cooled slightly after halftime, but the 'Jackets could never seem to get that stop on defense when they needed it, and the Vikings continued to increase the lead.
 
The deficit would balloon to as much as 24 points – a significant number when you consider the Yellowjackets scored the first 24 points of the game the first time the teams met back in December. From there the Yellowjackets were able to trim the Viking lead, but in the end they cruised to a 17-point victory.
 
Vid Milenkovic (Zurich, Switzerland/DSB Belgrade (Serbia)) paced the Yellowjackets with 17 points on four-of-nine shooting. Allen Anderson (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Osseo) and Mac Reykdal (Washburn, Wis./Washburn) each dropped in 14, while Mason Ackley (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) and Vogel also hit double figures with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Ackley also led the Yellowjackets with six rebounds.
 
Mayfield and Trenton Krueger led all scorers in the game with 22 points each.

The Yellowjackets and the Vikings will play their semifinal game Wednesday, with a 5:30 p.m. tip in Mankato.