Basketball Recap: Roman Stepanyuk's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Lincoln Northwest over Bennington

Lincoln Northwest was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their fifth straight loss. They took a hard 73-59 fall against the Bennington Badgers. The Falcons were not able to make up for their defeat to the Badgers from their previous meeting back in February of 2024.

Lincoln Northwest's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Roman Stepanyuk, who went 5 for 9 on his way to 16 points and seven boards. Xavier Schwartz was another key player, putting up 13 points and seven rebounds.

Bennington was led to victory by Austin Kaiser and Gavin Olson. Kaiser dropped a double-double on 22 points and ten boards, while Olson dropped a double-double on 15 points and ten rebounds. Olson's morning made it four games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Tyler Zach, who posted ten points and four steals.

Lincoln Northwest's defeat dropped their record down to 2-8. As for Bennington, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 7-5.

Lincoln Northwest has already played their next contest (against Beatrice), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing. Bennington will face off against Waverly at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday. The timing isn't great for Waverly: they have been struggling with five straight losses at home, while Bennington has snatched up three consecutive wins on the road.