St. Bonifacius, MN - The Polars Men's basketball team faced off with the Bethany Lutheran College Vikings on Saturday and fell by a score of 75-71.

Four minutes into the game both teams evened up the score at 6-6. Bethany Lutheran took the short lead after a few baskets before Crown went on an 8-0 run after Cade Carroll scored eight straight points to take the lead 16-10. Crown continued to stretch the lead all the way to fifteen points eight minutes to play. It didn't take long for the Vikings to climb right back into the game as they sliced the Polars lead to just two points with four minutes to go in the first half. Bethany Lutheran continued the4 solid stretch and scored three baskets in the last few possessions to hold a 37-33 halftime lead.

The second half went back and forth as both teams held the lead twice before it evened up at 48-48 halfway through the second. The Vikings would then go on an 18-8 run to take a ten point lead with 4 minutes to play in the contest. Crown chipped into the lead after baskets from Micah Ladd and Tyrus Buckner. With thirty seconds to go Crown trailed by five points and called a timeout. Out of the break the Polars drew up a play which saw Tyrus Buckner knock down a wide open three, the second triple he hit all season to trim the lead to 73-71. A missed free throw and rebound by Crown gave the Polars an opportunity to tie it up late but the Vikings came out on top 75-71.

Tyrus Buckner scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in just 23 minutes. Cade Carroll scored 10 points and added 4 rebounds. Micah Ladd totaled 5 assists on the night. As a team Crown shot 42.4% from the field going 28-66 and shot 29.6% from three point range going 8-27.

The Polars fall to 11-4 on the season and 4-1 in UMAC play as they will return home to face off with Northwestern on Friday, January 19th at 7:15pm.