ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – In a tale of two halves, the Bethel University men's basketball team dropped is conference opener Wednesday evening to the hands of Carleton, 84-77.
 
Bethel shot 57.1 percent (16-of-28) in the first 20 minutes before being held to just 38.9 percent (14-of-36) in the second half. Another late second-half scoring drought opened the Carleton advantage to double digits before the Royals got back no closer than six.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
• The Royals came out with the hot hand dialing in from long distance on their first three possessions. That rhythm led them to go 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes.
• BU held the lead for the first 18:39 of the game relying on the three ball.
• Carleton took the lead with an in-transition bucket with 53 seconds left before the break.
• Payton Thomsen knocked down a floater before the buzzer sending BU into the locker room down 41-39.
 
Second Half
• The tide changed behind the arc in the second where BU couldn't buy a three-point bucket.
• After missing their first nine attempts from long distance, Caden Boettcher broke that drought pulling the deficit to 72-62 which also ended a four-minute scoring drought.
• Boettcher would turn a Carleton turnover into points on the other end as his driving layup got the Royals within 78-73 with 56 seconds left.
• Despite holding the Knights to no field goals in the final three minutes, Carleton put it away at the free throw line where its last eight points came.
 
KEY PERFORMERS
• Tommy Jensen poured in a team-high 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting. He also added four assists.
• Zach Doely was a rebound shy of the double-double tallying 16 points and nine rebounds to go along with six assists.
• Caden Boettcher and Payton Thomsen off the bench contributed 14 and 11 points respectively.
 
UP NEXT
The Royals jump back into non-conference play Saturday, Nov. 19 inside the Robertson Center hosting Wisconsin-Superior for a 3 p.m. tip. Read Full Article