DULUTH, Minn. – The Bethel University men's basketball team suffered a 67-61 road loss at St. Scholastica Wednesday evening despite three starters scoring in double figures.
 
Zach Doely contributed a team-high 16 points while Payton Thomsen and Avery Mast each poured in 15 and 14 points respectively.
 
The Royals shot 42.3 percent compared to 42.1 percent. The difference came behind the arc where BU shot 30.4 percent (7-of-23) while the Saints got hot in the second finishing 37.5 percent (12-of-32).
 
The Royals pulled within 62-61 with 1:37 to go as Mast knocked down his fourth trey of the game. It would be the final bucket of the night for the Royals after the Saints hit a three with 35 seconds left making it a two-possession game.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
• The Royals had an early scoring slump as the Saints jumped out to a 17-2 lead through the first eight minutes.
• BU had its best scoring run of the night at 9-0 pulling within 19-13 as Sam Nelson drew a charge on the defensive end of the floor before laying it up off the glass on the other end with 7:51 left.
• Mast knocked down his second three of the night tying it up at 23-23 with 3:23 to go.
• A three from CSS in the final minute sent BU into the break down 32-26.
 
Second Half
• The Royals snatched their only lead of the night as Thomsen who both ends of a shooting foul making it 47-45.
• Two possessions later CSS took the lead back dialing in from downtown. The Royals would only tie it up on one more occasion down the stretch.
• The Saints went on to shoot 8-of-21 from behind the arc in the second.
• Out of a timeout with 26 seconds left the Royals had a chance to pull back within a possession, but a hook shot from Doley over a pair of defenders came up empty.
 
KEY PERFORMERS
• Doely added nine rebounds to his 16 points which he collected on 6-of-11 shooting.
• Mast was 4-of-8 from behind the arc.
• Thomsen was 4-of-12 from the floor knocking down two treys and finished a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe.
• Sam Nelson added eight rebounds and four assists to go along with six points.
 
UP NEXT
The Royals look to get back in the win column Saturday hosting Macalester for a 1 p.m. tipoff. Read Full Article