ARDEN HILLS, Minn.—College basketball fans were entertained by a high-energy battle between two of the top teams in the conference Wednesday night, but despite a 3-point deficit at the half Bethel was unable to overcome St. Thomas down the stretch—losing 69-80.
 
The Royals had several chances to take the lead in both frames, but could not convert a critical free throw or shot attempt throughout the entire night. For the Tommies, Marcus Alipate was on fire from start to finish with 30 points on 9-of-16 shooting and at one point was 8-of-12 from the field with six 3-pointers.
 
Bethel trailed UST 33-36 at the midway mark. The two teams exchanged 3-pointers for the first three minutes of the contest before the Toms jumped out to a 20-13 lead with 11:22 remaining in the opening period. Multiple steals and converted layups on the other end for Bethel helped the Royals even the score at 7:28 and again at 2:34, but BU was unable to tally a necessary free throw there after to take its first lead of the night.
 
The Royals trailed by one at the 18:12 mark, but St. Thomas put on an 8-0 run and never looked back. Bethel whittled it down to five with a chance to make it four on an and-1 attempt with 7:12 left in the game, but a missed free throw turned into a Tommie basket on the other end and BU never recovered.
 
Brycen Wojta was electric in the first half. He and Alipate each had 18 points with Wojta going 5-of-10 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the free throw line. The sophomore point guard was held to just two points in the second half, however, and finished with 20 on the night.
 
Bridgeport Tusler and Kyle von Schmidt-Pauli each added 14 points and four rebounds, while Kyle Zimmermann posted his sixth double-double of the season behind 11 points and 12 rebounds.
 
As a team BU shot 46.6 percent from the floor and 30.8 percent from outside the arc. Free throws plagued the Royals, as they converted just 11-of-23 from the stripe and 2-of-10 in the second half. Bethel's strongest attack was in the paint, as they outscored St. Thomas 42-28.  The Tommies were able to take advantage of a 16-5 margin in points off turnovers and 43-34 in rebounds, however.
 
Now 9-5 overall and 5-4 in loop play, Bethel will finish out the first half of the conference season with another tough MIAC matchup with Gustavus Adolphus Wednesday night. The interleague tilt is set to tip off at 7 p.m. in the Robertson Gym.