MANKATO, Minn. --- Senior
Tim Wendel kept his hot streak going as the Storm faced the Bethany Lutheran Vikings on Wednesday, but the Storm, unfortunately, fell 98-90 to the Vikings. Wendel scored 38 points, and when he scored his 16th point, he became a member of the incredibly exclusive 2,000-point club, a club very few collegiate basketball players have joined. This game was the third time in the past four games Wendel has scored over 30 points, averaging 32.5 points per game during that span. In addition, Wendel collected his eleventh double-double of the season with ten rebounds.
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The Storm battled close with the Vikings, who are still attempting to reach the No. 2 seed in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Playoffs, and Crown only trailed by four points with two minutes left after
Torry Ledin hit a three-pointer that barely moved the net. The Storm could never quite finish off the comeback, with the Vikings hitting their free throws and besting Crown for the second time this season.
Three Storm players reached double-figures in the contest, with junior guard
Christian Moore scoring 17 points and senior wing
Gunnar Ledin scoring 14. Ledin also added a team-high three steals.Â
Three players scored exactly five points in the contest: sophomore
Seth Royston, senior
Josh Royston, and senior
Torry Ledin. First-year
Alec Testerman scored four points and senior
Zach Skorik scored three to complete the Storm's scoring performance. Skorik led the team with six assists in the game.Â
The Storm have already clinched their spot in the UMAC Playoffs and will head up to Duluth on Monday for a 7 p.m. matchup with the St. Scholastica Saints. Before that, the Storm will host the Northland Lumberjacks for Crown's Senior Night, Saturday at 3 p.m.