Box Score

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Despite outscoring the hosting St. Thomas Tommies 29-24 in the second half, the Bethel Royals still came up short against the #5 team in the country, falling 61-50.

Bethel trailed by 16 at the half at 37-21, but amped up the defense in the second half, limiting the top scoring team in the MIAC to just 24 points. The Tommies made nearly 52% of their shots in the first half, but Bethel's defense reduced that percentage to 33 in the second, allowing pre-season All-American Joe Scott to score just four points in 26 minutes of play.

The Royals got strong minutes from Greg Meyer (Fr., Brooklyn Center, Minn.), who scored nine of his team-high 14 points in the last 20 minutes. Daniel Baah (So., Farmington, Minn.) came in off the bench to score seven of his 11 points in the second half as well. Rob Lang (Sr., Johnston, Iowa) also finished in double figures with 12 points. Nate Robertson (Sr., Forest Lake, Minn.) nearly posted a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds in the effort.

In a season already marked by injuries to key players, the Royals saw Taylor Hall (So., Blaine, Minn.) make an early exit after scoring just two points. Hall was the leading scorer on Monday against Hamline with 19. Bethel shot 39% from the floor for the game, but turned the ball over six more times than St. Thomas, leading to a +12 points off of turnovers margin for the hosts.

The loss drops the Royals to 1-5 in MIAC play and 5-6 overall heading into this Saturday's game against the St. Olaf Oles in Northfield, scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.. Meanwhile, the Tommies improve to 9-1 overall and 5-0 in the conference.