Box Score

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - After a thrilling victory over Carleton on Monday, the Royals entered tonight's game hoping to to maintain their hold on third place in the MIAC standings.  However, St. Thomas, led by MIAC Co-Player of the Week Joe Scott, held Bethel to just five three-pointers and less than 40-percent shooting on the night as the Royals fell to the Tommies 84-68.

Bethel and St. Thomas battled in a competitive first half that saw the Royals go on a 11-0 run to come from behind and take a 22-21 lead.  The game see-sawed for a short time before St. Thomas pulled away in the final three minutes of the first half.  Bethel never regained the lead and was only able to narrow the margin to a two point deficit early in the second half before falling behind for good.

Once again, the Royals were led by Tim Madson (Jr., Redwood Falls, Minn.) who scored 20 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the floor and 6-for-8 shooting from the line.  Mike Moberg (Jr., Plymouth, MInn.) was Bethel's only other scorer in double figures with 18. 

Cory Laugen (Jr., Blaine, Minn.) returned to the Bethel lineup to score nine points in 30 minutes after sitting the entire second half of the Carleton game with a head injury.

The Tommies Scott led all scorers with 26 points, while Tyler Nicolai, and B.J. Viau scored 18 and 12 points respectively.  Scott was 6-for-13 from the perimeter alone, shooting 10-for-17 overall.  As a team, the Tommies actually shot better from the floor than they did from the line, closing the night making 59-percent of their field goals, but only 56-percent of their free throws.

The loss drops Bethel to 8-7 in the conference and 12-8 overall.  They fall back into fifth place behind Saint John's and Concordia-Moorhead who both won tonight.  St. Thomas maintains their stronghold on first place with the win, improving to 14-2 in MIAC play and 18-3 overall.  The Royals will stay at home to take on Concordia at 6 p.m. on Saturday for their next game.