Box Score

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Tonight the Bethel men made the quick trip down Snelling Avenue to challenge the Tommies for their second match-up with them this season. The difference between January's game and tonight's, however, felt like it should have been spanned by more than a few miles. The nearly 1,400 screaming fans that packed the St. Thomas gym cheered the teams on to what ended up being an incredibly close game. And though the Royals ended up losing to the number one team in the nation this evening, 75-72, they more than held their own.

Bethel set the tone early by scoring first - a simple enough layup by Mike Moberg (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.), who, throughout the night, contributed 10 rebounds and nine points. From that basket on, the Royals steadily pulled away from the Tommies. They led by two, then three, then six, eight, even reaching as large of a lead as 17 points in the first half, and when the buzzer sounded Bethel was ahead 39-28.

As the second half began it was clear the Royal men knew they still had work to do. Even though they had a somewhat comfortable lead during the first, Bethel kept pushing throughout the last twenty-minutes even harder than they had been. A high-ranking team like St. Thomas wasn't about to go down easily, but they would not lead in the second half until the play clock read three minutes. Bethel was able to keep afloat - and ahead - but some things did turn against them.  While Bethel had over a 52 percent shooting average in the first half, that number dropped to 48 in the second. This may not seem like much of a difference, but St. Thomas' number jumped from just under 36 percent to 63 percent.

As game tension rose, so did the level of aggression coming from both the teams and the fans, and the overflowing crowd unleashed a deafening roar each time things went well for the Tommies. Fortunately for both Bethel fans and players, those times didn't come all that often. Tim Madson (Sr., Redwood Falls, Minn.) led the Bethel charge tonight in points with 21. Cory Laugen (Sr., Blaine, Minn.) was a close second with 17. The Royals also out rebounded the Tommies during the game, coming up with 37 boards to the Tommies' 23.

For Bethel, the clock couldn't wind down fast enough, and they fought desperately to hold onto the lead they'd secured for themselves. The ever-cool Tommies, however, had scrapped their way back in with under three minutes left to play, and were finally able tear the lead from the hands of the Royals. Though Bethel had three scoring opportunities within the last minute, each shot was off-balance due to exceptional St. Thomas defense, and then, the game was over. The clock read zero and the scoreboard read 75-72.

For St. Thomas it was Joe Scott who topped out in points with 23, followed by Tyler Nicolai, who had 15. B.J. Vaiu also contributed 10 rebounds to their victory.

While beating the #1 team in NCAA Division III Men's Basketball would have been the biggest upset of the season, the Bethel men know they still have work to do to in the weeks to come. Their conference record is now 11-6 and their overall record, 16-6. St. Thomas is looking at a still perfect record of 22-0 overall, 17-0 in the MIAC. Bethel's next game is schedule to be held on Saturday at 3 p.m. when they travel to Augsburg, another MIAC playoff team.