NEW ULM — Bethel raced to a 41-24 halftime lead and defeated Martin Luther College 85-56 in nonconference men’s basketball on Tuesday.

Riley Dearring scored 18 points in the first half for Bethel and led all scorers with 25 points. Tim Hanson scored 14 points and Granger Kingland finished with 12 points.

MLC’s Ian Paulsen led the Knights with 14 points and he also had 13 rebounds. He also had five assists in the game. Joey Behm and T.J. Babinec each scored nine for the Knights. Richard Eckman finished with eight points.

Tied at 23-23 in the first half, Bethel went on a 15-0 late in the half to grab a 38-23 lead. Bethel shot 44 percent for the game and MLC finished with at 33 percent from the field.

Bethel outrebounded MLC 55-38.

MLC gets back into action on Monday when it hosts Viterbo.