Xavier Patterson had a massive afternoon for the Vikings, scoring 29 points including his 1,000^th career point, as the Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team defeated Minnesota Morris 86-79. With the win the Vikings move to 18-3 overall and 10-0 in the UMAC while the Cougars fall to 11-10 overall and 5-5 and in the conference. Bethany also claimed at a least a share of the UMAC regular season title with the win, and can clinch the No. 1 seed and the outright title with one win in their final four games.

After Bethany would climb out to an 11-4 lead to open the contest, it was Gus Gunderson of Minnesota Morris who found his groove. He would outscore the Vikings 11-2 over a three-minute span to propel the Cougars to a 15-13 lead. Morris would push their lead to five points at 24-19 before Xavier Patterson scored consecutive baskets to cut the deficit to one point. 

Over the remaining 6:11 things would slow down for both teams, as Bethany would outscore UMM 10-9 as the teams were even at 33 at the half. 

Both teams had strong defensive first halves as the Cougars shot 38.2 percent and the Vikings 37.5.

Morris would have the advantage over the first few minutes of the second half, as they would break a 38-38 stalemate with five straight points to gain the early lead. Bethany would even the score at 45 a few minutes later before Jax Madson connected on a triple to give them a lead of their own.

The Cougars regained control over the next few minutes though, as they would retake the lead and push it to five points at 64-59 with 8:14 to go. Paterson would quell the drought once again for Bethany as he would finish on a bucket inside before knocking down a three pointer for what was his 1,000^th career point.

With the game tied, the two teams would go back and forth over the next four minutes before a big three from Morris' Pal Dak would give them a four-point lead. Patterson would come up with another big basket before Drew Sagedahl would bully his way inside for a two of his own after a Patterson steal to tie things at 76 with two minutes to go.

After the teams would trade two points each Sagedahl would step up in a big moment, hitting a floater with just over a minute to go to put the Vikings back on top by two. It was then Mason Ackley who skied up for a defensive rebound and knocked down his free throws after being fouled to put the Vikings back up two possessions.

Morris would get one of two free throws on their next possession and a Viking turnover would give them the ball back, down by three with under 30 seconds to play. Another Patterson steal though would send Sagedahl to the line where he would knock down both, and after another Viking stop, Patterson would ice the game with two free throws of his own.

Patterson finished with a career high 29 in the win, connecting on 10-of-14 shots from the field and 8-of-9 shots from the charity stripe. Sagedahl also had a big night with 19 points, while Madson finished with 16.