Box Score
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - The last time Bethel beat Gustavus at home,
Roseanne still held a prime-time spot on ABC, and Tom Hanks was about to win an Oscar for
Philadelphia. It's been 16 long years since the Royals could boast of a home court victory over the Gusties, and tonight's win was all the sweeter because of it. After a physically and emotionally intense game the Royals walked away with an 87-72 win.
Similar to what every team hopes for at the start of every game - Bethel's basic strategy seemed to be to pull ahead and stay ahead. Gustavus may have scored the first basket, but Bethel never allowed them to lead again in the first half, and they began the long but steady process of distancing themselves from their opponent.
Cory Laugen (Sr., Blaine, Minn.), the reigning MIAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week, put 13 points away during the first 20 minutes, and
Tim Madson (Sr., Redwood Falls, Minn) added 12 more. Bethel certainly seemed to be gaining the upper hand, though during the first half, the numbers other than the score looked fairly even. Bethel shot a little over 54 percent from the floor, while Gustavus landed just under that number. But at the end of the half it's only the scoreboard that matters, and the Royals led 44-34.
In the second half Bethel continued doing what had been working for them - scoring. Madson put away 16 more points for an evening total of 28, and Laugen added eight more, bringing his total to 21 points and eight rebounds. Madson's effort was significant as he is now tied with Eric Joldersma (1996-99) as the fourth highest scorer in Bethel's history with 1,706 points.
Another important player in tonight's game was the seemingly unstoppable force of
Mike Moberg (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) underneath the boards. Moberg finished with 16 total points and eight rebounds, despite the best efforts of the Gustavus defense to bully him with strong physical play.
Nate Robertson (Sr., Forest Lake, Minn.) was another dominant player underneath, and he walked away with 11 points and four rebounds. These excellent efforts, as well as those by each Bethel player to step on the floor tonight, were what brought about the victory Bethel has been searching for more than a decade and a half.
For Gustavus it was Jesse Van Sickle who led the scoring charge with 26 points. Ryan McPartland followed next with 14. Van Sickle made 10 Gustavus points in a row to narrow Bethel's lead to just two points with less than nine minutes to play, but the Royals intensified their defensive efforts on him and he only scored one more basket the rest of the night.
Firmly seated in the playoffs, Bethel moves to a comfortable 13-6 MIAC record and an 18-6 overall record with one regular season game left to go. Gustavus falls to a 12-12 overall standing and an 11-8 record in conference. The next and last Royal game for this regular season is scheduled to be held on Saturday when the Knights from Carleton travel here for a 3 p.m. home match up.
