BOX SCORE

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - After defeating the Concordia College Cobbers for their first MIAC victory on Saturday afternoon, the Royals focused their gaze on the Oles from St. Olaf, who they battle this evening at the Robertson Center. Despite having momentum from their win, the Royals fell behind early in the game and could never gain a lead on the evening, eventually succumbing to St. Olaf 71-53.

St. Olaf strung together a 12-0 run within the early minutes of the game before the Royals hit their first basket. While the early deficit was significant, it was still very early in the match and Bethel did begin to heat up from the field a bit later in the half. St. Olaf began to cool down a bit providing Bethel a much needed window to reenter the game from. As the final seconds of the first half came to a close, the Royals found themselves only trailing by six, as the Oles carried a 30-24 lead into the locker room.

While there was a optimism on the Royals squad, they could never translate it onto the court in the second as St. Olaf extended their lead thanks to some hot shooting from Bobby Fong and a nice inside presence from Stu Neville. Fong finished the game with 27 points while Neville finished with 15. For the Royals, Greg Meyer (So., Brooklyn Center, Minn.) led the team in scoring with 14 points and Taylor Hall (So., Blaine, Minn.) had another double-digit scoring game with 12 points. Even with Meyer and Hall's performances, the Oles proved to be too much for the Royals to handle tonight as they fell by a final of 71-53.

The Royals look to right the ship later in the week when they take on Gustavus Adolphus College Wednesday evening in St. Peter, Minnesota. Tip-off begins at 7:30 p.m.