MANKATO, Minn. – Bethany Lutheran overcame an 11-point halftime deficit to down the UW-Superior men's basketball team, 80-78, in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference quarterfinals at North Gymnasium on Wednesday.
 
The loss ends the Yellowjackets' season at 10-16 overall while sending the Vikings to a semifinal date with Northwestern in St. Paul on Saturday.
 
Superior built its first-half cushion due, in large part, to 8-for-13 shooting from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes. UWS sank five of its first eight triples – including three from sophomore Josh Reinertsen (Duluth, Minn./Denfeld) – to take a 23-16 lead with 11 minutes to play in the half. 
 
The 'Jackets shot 60 percent from the floor before the break, connecting on 15 of their 25 attempts. Reinertsen poured in 15 of his team-high 18 points in the first half. 
 
Bethany Lutheran (14-11) twice whittled the lead to a single bucket, but UWS closed the frame on a 15-4 run that saw four different players contribute points. Freshman Andrew Kunelius (Caledonia, Minn./Caledonia) had four points, junior Josef Fahrenholtz (Chatfield, Minn./Chatfield) two, and Reinertsen and junior Xavier Patterson (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) combined for three 3-pointers in the stretch with Reinertsen canning two more. Superior led, 40-29, at intermission.
 
The Vikings found their way back into the game, shooting over 53.3 from the field while also draining 16-of-18 from the free-throw line.
 
A Drew Sagedahl long ball tied it, 53-53, with 12:04 on the clock before Cire Mayfield put BLC ahead with another trifecta a minute later. Bethany's five-point lead later grew to eight as Riley Ashburn hit a layup after a Sagedahl steal to make it 65-57 with eight minutes left.
 
Reinertsen cut it to 72-69 with 3:39 remaining on the last of his six 3-pointers and J'Vaun Walker (Rosharon, Texas/Manvel) and Mason Ackley (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) each pulled their team to within three on separate occasions down the stretch, but the Vikings held on for the victory.
 
Ackley (17 points), Walker (15) and Patterson (14) joined Reinertsen in double figures. Patterson added four assists, while Fahrenholtz grabbed a game-high-tying eight rebounds to go with his four points.
 
Brian Smith paced BLC with a game-best 24 points on 8-for-16 shooting.