The Bethany Lutheran men's basketball team Saturday overcame a 21-point first half deficit to force overtime where they eventually defeated Northwestern 90-84 to claim their third straight UMAC Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament berth. With the win the Vikings improve to 14-13 on the season while the Eagles end their campaign at 15-12. 

"It was an incredible game in an unbelievable atmosphere," said head coach Pat Garvin. "Hats off to them as they came out of the gates ready to play and we did not. Was proud of our grit and toughness to just hang around and eventually we found a way."

Northwestern scored on 19 of their first 25 possessions and it seemed like the Vikings may have caught them on the wrong day as seemingly everything was falling for the home team. That fast start put the Eagles on top 39-18 and it wasn't one they let up easily as they kept the Vikings at bay over the next three minutes to keep their lead at 21. Bethany's leading scorer Drew Sagedahl made sure he had something to say about it though, as he scored 10 of his 16 first half points in the final six minutes to will the Vikings to within 13 at the break at 49-36. 

"We talked a lot in the halftime about getting back to the game plan," said head coach Pat Garvin. "They came out and threw some haymakers and we weren't executing on either end of the floor. We did a much better job on both ends in the second half and overtime." 

After Bethany struggled mightily early in the first half, they flipped a switch in the locker room at halftime and played some of their best basketball to open the second. They forced four Eagle turnovers in the first three minutes and held them to an 0-of-5 clip from the field as they opened the second on a 15-0 run to claim a 51-49 lead. DJ Akpati starred during the stretch, as he put forth a few strong finishes inside before burying a triple off a dish from Sagedahl to cap off the run. 

Following a tale of two completely different 12-minute stretches from both teams with UNW dominating the first 12 minutes of the game and Bethany flipping the script for the next dozen, things started to pan out like you would typically expect when these two teams match up in big games. 

The Eagles punched back on Bethany's run with a pair of tough buckets inside before Jax Madson shrugged off his early game struggles with a triple followed by a Dominik Bangu layup to put Bethany up three at 56-53. Northwestern then responded by playing to their strong suit as they would get into the paint and go on a 10-0 run thanks to some tough shotmaking inside from their guards. 

Sagedahl and Madson would each pour in another three as Bethany answered with a 10-2 run and would retake a 66-65 lead with eight minutes to play. Neither team would lead by more than one point over the next four minutes as they traded baskets back and forth until Northwestern struck twice in a row with the second being a three to put them on top 74-70 with 4:40 to go. Akpati then split a pair at the line before the Eagles got a jumper in the paint to go up five with under four to go. 

On Bethany's next offensive possession, Sagedahl would sky up for an offensive rebound on and finish strong through some contact to make it one possession game at 76-73 before a Viking stop followed by a tip-in from Madson made it a one point game. 

Each team then posted a few empty possessions before a difficult shot from Northwestern's Noah Frazell in the midrange made it a 78-75 game with two minutes to play. After both teams went scoreless over their next two possessions, it would set up a finale that was only fitting for a championship game. 

A set play from coach Garvin had multiple crossing actions before Madson caught it on the wing and dished it up top Sagedahl. The UNW defender read the play well and was able to close out to Sagedahl, but he would put his hands down for half a second and the senior would let it fly and find nothing but nylon as he evened the score with 40 seconds to play. 

The Eagles would miss on their ensuing possession and after Sagedahl's late shot was no good, Northwestern's prayer at the buzzer didn't connect and the game would head to overtime. 

About his late game heroics, Sagedahl said, "With time winding down I wanted the ball and we were able to run a set to get it to me at the top of the key and once I got it I knew that I needed to find a way to get off a clean look."

Things in the overtime period started out slow with neither team getting things going until Bangu would head to the free throw line and split a pair to open the scoring with 3:46 to go. The Eagles would respond on the other end with a Frazell three before Akpati drove the lane quickly in response and tied the game at 81. 

When both teams failed to score on their next three possessions, it was then Madson who was able to knife through the lane with 1:05 to play and finish at the rim to put the Vikings ahead. On Northwestern's next possession Akpati would then read the passing lane and get a steal with 50 seconds left to give the Vikings the ball with a chance to make it a two possession game late.

The ball once again was in Sagedahl's hands late in the shot clock and after the defense would collapse on him he kicked to Teon Thomas who quickly tossed it across court to Bangu who would connect on a triple with 20 seconds left to make it a five point game. UNW quickly pushed it up the floor before Bethany was ready though and would launch an off balance three with 15 seconds left and drill it to bring it back to two. Bangu would be fouled on the ensuing inbound and would head to the line and connect on both to make it a four point game, and, after Northwestern missed their three point shot with time winding down, Akpati would put the finishing touches on it with a pair of free throws for the 90-84 win. 

Sagedahl led Bethany and earned UMAC Tournament MVP honors with 29 points in the contest while Madson added 20. Fellow seniors Akpati and Bangu also reached double digits with 19 and 13, respectively. Bangu also notched a double-double as he tallied a game-high 11 rebounds.

"Means a lot to be able to make it to our third straight NCAA Tournament," said Sagedahl. "The hard work and countless hours in the gym have paid off and I'm so happy for this team and what we have overcome this year as a group. I'm very blessed and thankful to be apart of this program."

Seniors led the way for Bethany in this one, as they had five play at least 28 minutes in the contest. 

"Our seniors showed unbelievable grit and toughness," said Garvin. "I knew we wouldn't go down without a fight and we played a very mature second half."

About the performance from Tournament MVP Sagedahl, Garvin added, "Drew is just phenomenal. He had that look in his eye that he wasn't going down today and at one point I decided he was pretty much going to play the whole game. He's the best player in the league and today he played like it."

Regarding the game flow as a whole, Sagedahl said, "Right away in the game we started off very slow getting down by 21, but were able to get it down to 13 headed to half. It wasn't how we wanted to start but I'm proud of how we stayed together through the adversity. The biggest thing coach said at halftime was to have unwavering belief in yourself and each other and to stay together."

The UMAC Tournament Championship is the fifth total in the program history, with all coming in the past eight seasons. The Vikings will now await their fate to see who they match up with in the first round of the NCAA Tournament when the bracket is announced on Monday at 11 a.m.