"Cloud is GPAC team who we beat in the elite eight back in 2003," said head coach Clair Oleen. "They are usually pretty good. We didn't execute as well as we were hoping to. But the first 20 minutes was our first time out, and they had been going longer than us. They beat us by double digits in the first 20 minutes, and we beat them by double digits in the second 20 minutes."

The Swedes then scrimmaged Pratt Community College Wednesday evening. "At Pratt, we did a better job executing the triangle offense," Oleen said. "It is a work in progress to continue to improve the execution of the triangle offense as we saw improvement as we went along against Concordia. We also improved our defense, working on pressure and closeouts. All in all, it was a pretty good scrimmage, and we got our young kids to play a half or two."

The Swedes then took on some familiar faces Halloween night: the alumni, who proved to be no pushover opponents.

"Saturday was a greater challenge for offensive execution," said Oleen. "Almost all the guys who came back played in the national tournament and knew the triangle offense. They did a good job making execution difficult. But we had lots of points off the transition game and defensively-created offense."

Bethany officially kicks off the season on Thursday, November 5 at Manhattan Christian College before heading to Haskell Indian Nations University Saturday, November 7. Tip offs are scheduled for 8 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.

"We will prepare for Manhattan Christian each day with the objective of getting better," Oleen said. "Getting better with the execution of the triangle and keeping our focus on doing the things we need to do in order to get better and be successful."