Box Score

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - On Saturday afternoon at the Robertson Center, the Bethel Royals men's basketball team took on the Saint Mary's University Cardinals. The Royals entered the day picking up steam in the MIAC race after defeating Gustavus and Carleton a mere ten days earlier. With that momentum, Bethel fought off a second half surge from Saint Mary's to add another victory, 82-79.

The first half of play was all Bethel as Nate Robertson (Sr., Forest Lake, Minn.) and Chris Vavra (Sr., Cambridge, Minn.) paced the Royals offensive attack with 13 and 11 points apiece. Daniel Baah (So., Farmington, Minn.) and Greg Meyer (Fr., Brooklyn Center, Minn.) each contributed 5 points to the Bethel cause, while Robertson controlled the boards with 7 rebounds. After the first half of play, the Royals took a 48-33 lead into halftime.

The Cardinals bench was the story at the start of the second half. Down 15 points entering the break, Saint Mary's chipped away at the Bethel lead. With 10 minutes remaining, the Royals lead had dwindled to eight points with the momentum starting to sway to the Cardinals side. However, Bethel wouldn't lie down so easily. Rob Lang (Sr., Johnston, Iowa) and Robertson combined for some nifty passing and shooting as Robertson would score 10 points in last eight minutes of the game. Meyer was also key to the Royals late offensive surge by adding seven points and four rebounds.

Robertson finished with his highest scoring output on the season collecting 27 points and 11 rebounds. Vavra finished with 13 points, while Meyer chipped in with 12 of his own. With the win, the Royals have now won three of their last four MIAC contests and improve their conference record to 4-8. Overall Bethel now stands at 8-9 on the season. The Royals will continue play Wednesday night when they will take on Macalester College in St. Paul. Bethel defeated Macalester, 73-55 in their matchup earlier this year.