ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Bethel University men's basketball team couldn't overcome a 14-point halftime deficit falling to Wisconsin-La Crosse in its home opener Tuesday evening, 73-62.

The Royals narrowly outscored the Eagles in the second half 41-38 but never led in the non-conference matchup falling to 1-1 on the year. Bethel travels to Wartburg a week from today taking on the Knights in non-conference play at 7 p.m.

Senior guard Jack Jenson turned in his second straight 20-point effort with a game-high 21 points to go along with a game-high five assists. Senior Granger Kingland reeled in a game-high 11 rebounds and tallied nine points. Junior Chandler Wellman added a career-high 12 points going 6-of-11 from the field.

Bethel kept themselves within two possessions through the opening six minutes. As the Eagles got hot from 3-point range their lead went to 21-10 with 12:06 remaining in the opening half. Kingland took over with a fast break bucket in the lane that turned into a 3-point play at the charity strip making it 21-16 with just over 10 minutes to go. Robbie Whitney dialed in from long distance two possessions later making it a four-point game. Turnovers haunted the Royals with UWL taking a 35-21 lead into the locker room.

The Eagles lead remained at double digits grabbing their largest lead at 65-43 with 3:39 left in the contest. Bethel went on a 7-0 run from there with free throws from Jenson and Kingland along with a trey from Jamal Davis in between the attempts. Davis made both ends of a two-shot foul getting the Royals within 69-58 at the 1:26 mark. BU would not get any closer in the final 90 seconds.