ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Bethany Lutheran College Vikings won the 2024-25 UMAC Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship on Saturday night with a 90-84 overtime victory over the University of Northwestern Eagles. The tournament title is the fifth in the Vikings’ program history and their third in a row.
Heading into the championship game, the Vikings and Eagles had split their regular season games against each other. Northwestern won the first meeting 91-82 on January 8 while Bethany Lutheran took the second 90-83 on February 12. In both of those games, the home team had been the victor.
On Saturday, the Vikings trailed by as many as 21 points in the first half, facing deficits of 39-18 and 43-22. BLC made up some ground before halftime to cut the Eagles’ lead down to 13, trailing 49-36.
BLC opened the second half with an 18-4 run in the first five minutes to go up 54-53 and take their first lead of the game.
The two rivals battled down to the final minutes of regulation, where the Eagles hit a three to go up 78-75 with 1:57 remaining. With just 43 seconds left on the game clock, Drew Sagedahl responded with a three-pointer for the Vikings to tie the game at 78-78.
The championship game went to overtime. Leading 83-81 in the final minute, Dominik Bangu hit a three with just 20 seconds remaining to put BLC up by five. Just seconds later, the Eagles hit a three of their own to cut the Vikings’ lead back down to two again with 16 seconds to go. Bethany Lutheran’s defense would hold in the closing seconds while capitalizing on free throws to secure the 90-84 overtime championship victory.
Sagedahl was named the UMAC Tournament MVP. The senior led Bethany Lutheran in the championship game with a game-high 29 points. In the semifinal victory over the University of Minnesota Morris Cougars, Sagedahl scored 19 points with 13 in the second half to secure the win.
With the UMAC Tournament victory, Bethany Lutheran has earned the UMAC’s automatic bid and will advance to compete in the NCAA DIII Men’s Basketball Tournament.
The UMAC is an NCAA Division III member comprised of eight full-time member schools from Minnesota and Wisconsin: Bethany Lutheran College, Crown College, Martin Luther College, North Central University, Northland College, University of Minnesota Morris, University of Northwestern, and University of Wisconsin-Superior.