Mankato, Minn. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team, ranked 14th on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, improved to 6-1 with a 99-97 victory at Bethany Lutheran College (Minn.) Wednesday night in North Gym. The Vikings drop to 1-5.

UWL overcame a 25-point first half deficit to earn the win, improving its all-time series lead to 3-1 over Bethany Lutheran (Minn.). The Vikings earned a 68-67 victory over the Eagles last season.  
 

The Eagles took their largest lead of the game after scoring the first five points on a JJ Paider jumper and Sam Grieger three-point field goal. The Vikings scored the next five points to tie the game. After Dustin Derousseau made one-of-two free throws to give UWL a 6-5 advantage, Bethany Lutheran (Minn.) went on a 10-2 run to take a 15-8 lead with 16:08 remaining in the first half after a Jax Madson jumper.

Karter Thomas' jumper with 12:56 left cut the Vikings' lead to 19-15 and the Eagles later trailed, 30-23 with 10:18 remaining on Tarek Abdel Kireem's three-pointer. Bethany Lutheran (Minn.) took its largest lead at 50-25 with 5:13 left in the first half after going on a 20-2 run.

UWL cut it to 56-38 with :52 remaining on a Derousseau free throw, but DJ Akpati's three-point field goal with :04 left gave Bethany Lutheran (Minn.) a 59-38 halftime advantage.

Trailing 65-43 with 18:21 remaining, UWL went on a 17-0 run of its own to cut the lead to 65-60 with 15:16 left after a Derousseau three-pointer. Derousseau had 10 points in the run. Bethany Lutheran (Minn.) maintained its lead, taking a 75-65 lead on an Akpati layup with 12:41 remaining. Kegan Heiderscheidt gave the Vikings a 93-84 lead with 3:24 left on a three-pointer, but the Eagles cut the margin to 96-62 with 2:16 left on a Grieger jumper.

Madson made of one-of-two at the line to give Bethany Lutheran (Minn.) a 97-92 lead with 1:48 remaining, but the Vikings would not score the rest of the game. Derousseau's three-point play cut it to 97-95 with 1:29 left and after a Drew Sagedahl miss on a jumper, Grieger's layup with 1:07 tied the game. The Vikings missed a three-point attempt and had a turnover off an offensive rebound to keep the game tied, 97-97. Grieger provided the game-winning points on a layup with :21 remaining.

Sagedahl missed a three-point shot, but Derousseau missed a pair of free throws for UWL with :08 remaining. Madson's three-pointer missed with :04 left and Brady Ingersoll jumper was shot with :02 remaining.

UWL shot 43.8% from the field, including 40.0% (12-of-30) from three-point range, and 65.7% (23-of-35) at the free throw line.

Derousseau and Grieger led the Eagles with 27 points each. Derousseau finished nine-of-15 from the field, including four-of-seven from three-point range, and five-of-nine at the line. Grieger was nine-of-13 from the field, going two-of-three from three-point range, and seven-of-eight at the line.

Will Fuhrmann finished with 12 points and Thomas 10. Fuhrmann was three-of-five from three-point range. Derousseau led UWL with seven rebounds and four assists while tying Paider for the team lead with two blocks. Thomas had a team-high four steals.

Bethany Lutheran (Minn.) shot 57.1% from the field, including 46.4% (13-of-28) from three-point range, and 66.7% (four-of-six) at the line.

Madson led the Vikings with 23 points while Akpati finished with 20 and Sagedahl 17. Madson finished with a game-high nine rebounds with Sagedahl adding eight. Madson and Sagedahl also recorded four assists.

UWL returns to action Saturday, December 7 hosting Calvin University (Minn.) at 3 p.m.