Box Score

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - Nate Robertson (Sr., Forest Lake, Minn.) reached 1,000 career points by scoring 14 tonight, but the Bethel Royals were unable to hold off the visiting Saint John's Johnnies as they fell short 80-67. The Johnnies rallied from down four at halftime to outscore the Royals 50-33 in the second half to steal the win and stop the Royals' two-game winning streak.

Tonight's game was another tale of two halves for the Royals squad. The first half saw the Royals lead by as many as eight points and saw six different players score with Daniel Baah (So., Farmington, Minn.) and Nate Robertson (Sr., Forest Lake, Minn.) adding 14 and 10 respectively. Solid offense including six three pointers and a combined 46 percent shooting from the floor as well as a stingy defense which forced seven Johnny turnovers paced the Royals to a four point lead at the half.

However, the second half was not so kind to the Royals as they turned the ball over 11 times and saw the Johnnies race out of the break on a 25- 5 run to start the half. The Johnnies would never look back or relinquish their lead as the Royals could only managed to close the gap to as little eight with just over 10 minutes to play.

Free throws proved to be the difference in tonight's contest, especially in the second half, as the Johnnies shot over 91 percent from the charity stripe, making 22 of 24 attempts and helping them seal the win. The Johnnies' Aaron Burtzel and Andrew Latzke led the way with 11 points each as well as shooting a combined nine for nine from the line.

Greg Meyer (Fr., Brooklyn Center, Minn.) led the Royals in the half scoring 10 of his 13 points in the frame. Baah led all scorers with 16 despite playing only eight minutes in the second half and Robertson added 14 points of his own on five of eight shooting, bringing him to over 1,000 points in his career. The starting post came into Bethel after two years at UW-River Falls with 609 points, and after Monday's performance against Carleton, needed just two points to reach the milestone.

The Johnnies finished with four players in double-figures, led by Aaron Burtzel and his 15 points.

With tonight's loss the Royals fall to 8-8 overall and 3-8 in MIAC play while the Johnnies improve to 10-6 overall and 7-4 in conference play. The Royals will be back in action looking to resume their winning ways this Saturday as they play host to the Saint Mary's Cardinals, beginning at 3 p.m.