Bethel University's men's basketball team returns to the MIAC Championship game for the first time since 2009, as the Royals are set to take on the University of St. Thomas Sunday afternoon in Schoenecker Arena. BU and the Tommies split their season series, so not only will they settle the 1-1 record, but they'll also battle to determine who receives the automatic bid into the 2015 NCAA Tournament.

Live webcast | Live stats | MIAC Playoffs | Interactive bracket

#4 Bethel | Roster • Schedule • Statistics
#1 St. Thomas | Roster • Schedule • Statistics
 
Previous matchups
• January 19 | Arden Hills, Minn. | St. Thomas 80, Bethel 69 | [Recap / Box Score]
• February 18 | St. Paul, Minn. | Bethel 71, St. Thomas 65 | [Recap / Box Score]

Game notes

Bethel University
• This is Bethel's 14th postseason appearance in the last 16 years
• Bethel's home playoff win Wednesday was the first since 2009 and the second since 2004
• The Royals win on Wednesday improved their home record this season to 10-2 overall
• Bethel is 9-6 on the road, including a 5-5 mark in league action
• BU is 4-3 in the postseason since the 2012 MIAC Playoffs and 3-1 under the direction of Coach Novak
• Bethel defeated Concordia 71-53 in the quarterfinals and No. 18-ranked St. Olaf 75-67 in the semifinals
• The Royals are 4-1 against ranked opponents this season and all of those wins are against the No. 1 and 2 teams in the West Region
• Coming into the playoffs BU was ranked No. 7 in the West Region rankings behind both St. Thomas and St. Olaf
• Kyle Zimmermann has scored tallied 48 points, 24 rebounds, seven assists, and three blocks in the postseason
• Jared Nelson was 4-of-4 from outside the 3-point line in Friday's win at St. Olaf
 
Players to watch:
 

Name	FG%	3PT%	FT%	Reb./G	Assists/G	Steals/G	Blks/G	Points/G
Kyle Zimmermann	60.9	0.00	69.5	9.5	1.8	1.5	2.0	17.7
Brycen Wojta	46.5	40.6	81.5	2.7	3.2	1.3	0.1	14.4
Bridgeport Tusler	46.0	34.9	54.2	3.6	2.7	2.0	0.4	13.4
Kyle von_Schmidt-Pauli	47.5	45.8	80.0	3.9	1.0	0.3	0.5	8.8
Trevor Hall	43.0	32.2	73.1	3.3	2.4	1.5	0.5	7.3

St. Thomas
• The Tommies are 12-1 at home this season with their only loss coming against Bethel
• St. Thomas has won or shared 10 consecutive regular-season conference championships
• Between the regular- and post-season, UST has won 44 total titles (31 regular, 13 playoff)
• In the 31-year history of the MIAC playoffs, St. Thomas has reached the postseason 28 times with an all-time record of 33-15
• The Tommies have won the playoff crown in seven of the last nine years
• Johnny Tauer, who was just the third UST men's basketball head coach hired since 1954, has guided St. Thomas to a 97-18 record in four seasons
• Marcus Alipate's 30-point game against the Royals in Arden Hills marked the first time a Tommie had scored 30 in a game since 2007
 

Name	FG%	3PT%	FT%	Reb./G	Assists/G	Steals/G	Blocks/G	Points/G
Marcus Alipate	44.6	46.8	72.0	1.2	1.5	0.9	0.0	13.4
Taylor Montero	49.1	44.5	83.0	4.7	1.5	1.2	0.2	12.2
Connor Nord	49.2	---	64.4	7.2	1.5	0.7	0.3	11.2
Grant Shaeffer	53.1	35.7	72.8	2.2	4.3	0.9	0.0	10.5
Cortez Tillman	48.5	46.9	80.4	2.1	2.3	1.1	0.1	9.7