Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com

When you know you're the underdog, and accept that you are the underdog, and embrace your underdog status, you can leave it all out on the court.  

Next: No. 5 Game recap: Moving on: Vikings shock No. 7 Johnnies Box score

When Bethany Lutheran took the court at St. John's in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament, they knew where they stacked up. The Johnnies had gone 19-1 in the MIAC and were having their best season in decades. Bethany Lutheran was having a great year, too, but the smallest school in the NCAA Tournament was also small in the lineup as well. 

So they used that to their advantage. Smaller and quicker, the Vikings forced the Johnnies' post players to defend out on the perimeter and generally took St. John's out of its game plan. Bethany Lutheran hit 12 of its first 13 shots, and went 9-for-12 from beyond the arc in the first half.

After halftime, when the 3's stopped falling, no worries. Bethany Lutheran attacked the basket, and crashed the boards as well, and suddenly that small lineup the Vikings fielded doubled the Johnnies in rebounding, a 44-22 edge. And although they looked fatigued for the final 12 minutes of the game, they kept up their pace, dictating the tempo throughout, and never let St. John's back in, running away with a 102-92 win.