MIAC Women's Preview | MIAC Men's Preview

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - The Bethel University men's and women's basketball teams are getting closer to opening their 2018-19 seasons with the season openers for both coming on the road next Friday, November 16th. The MIAC released the Coaches Preseason Polls and their corresponding previews today and both teams where picked to finish in the third spot in the conference.

The Bethel men return four starters from the 2017-18 season in which they advanced to the MIAC Championship game for the third time in the last four years after a third place regular season finish. The Royals have posted identical 21-7 overall records each of the past two seasons. Seniors Derek Magnuson and Matt Ambriz are joined by juniors Granger Kingland and Jack Jenson as the returning starters who together combined to score 49.2 points and grab 20 rebounds per game. 

The Bethel women return three starters from last year when they finished fourth in the highly competitive MIAC, advancing to the MIAC Playoffs for the fifth straight season. Over those past five seasons the Royals have won over 20 games three times and won a total of 97 games. Two of the Royals returning starters are two-time All-Conference honorees in senior center Hannah Johnson and junior forward Taite Anderson. Both were All-First-Year Team members as freshman and Johnson has been a force in the paint, being named to the All-Defensive Team each of the last two seasons. 

The Royal men travel to Menomonie, Wisconsin for the UW-Stout Tip-Off Tournament on November 16-17 and will take on UW-Eau Claire (5 p.m.) and UW-Stout (7 p.m.). The Bethel women are taking on a pair of non-conference opponents at the home of MIAC foe Gustavus in St. Peter, Minnesota. On Friday the Royals will play Martin Luther College at 5:30 p.m. and on Saturday they square off with the University of Minnesota-Morris at 1 p.m.