Box Score

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - In the summer of 2009, the Robertson Center gym floor is scheduled to be completely redone to give the Bethel Royals an improved home court. However, based on the events in the Royals game against the Saint John's Johnnies, a more urgent need is for a maintenance crew to remove the lids from the baskets at the Royals end. For whatever reason, Bethel had a tough time getting their shots to fall in the first half and as a result of a multitude of missed scoring opportunities inside the paint and from beyond the three-point line the Johnnies were victorious over the Royals 81-73 in the MIAC opener.

The Royals found themselves trailing 41-29 at the half on account of only one made three-pointer compared to six on the other side of the ball. The second half went much better, as the Royals made 17 of their 34 shots, including 5-for-8 from behind the arc. However, they shot just 5-for-11 from the free throw line and despite outscoring the Johnnies 44-40 in the second half, it would not be enough.

Leading the charge for the Royals were Tim Madson (Sr., Redwood Falls, Minn.) and Nate Robertson (Jr., Forest Lake, Minn.) who each scored 17 points. Robertson also had eight rebounds and three assists in his 31 minutes. Cory Laugen (Sr., Blaine, Minn. - pictured left) was the next highest scorer with 11 points. Mike Moberg (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) narrowly missed his third double-double of the season by scoring nine points and snagging 11 rebounds.

Andy Burns played the entire game for Saint John's and scored 24 points as the leading scorer for the Johnnies. Chris Schwartz scored 18, and Andrew Latzke had an additional 16 off the bench to help the effort.

The loss is Bethel's first of the season and puts them at 4-1 overall and 0-1 in the MIAC. Saint John's improves to 2-3 overall and 1-0 in conference play. The Royals are scheduled to stay at home to take on Saint Mary's this coming Saturday at 3 p.m. for their next game.