ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – A 21-point second half deficit was brought down to nine before the Bethel University men's basketball team fell to Saint Mary's University Saturday afternoon, 77-64, in front of an Alumni Day filled Robertson Center.
The program's alumni day celebration included a halftime recognition for the Royals' all-time coaching wins leader George Palke who amassed 226 wins over his 18-year coaching career from 1980 to 1997.
Jaren Tschetter and
Tommy Jensen each led the Royals in scoring with 14 points each.
Dom Aguilar off the bench hit four treys in the game for 12 points.
Joey Kidder added a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with five assists.
A tight start saw Bethel hold a pair of leads early until Saint Mary's opened it up to a nine-point lead for the foes. A 3-pointer from Tschetter knotted it at 26-26 before the Cardinals scored the final four points of the opening half.
After tying it up twice in the early stages of the second, the Royals' offense went cold while the Cardinals went on a 15-0 run to lead 54-39 with 11:23 left to go.
Shots from behind the arc kept falling for SMU keeping their lead in the 20-point range. Head coach
Zach Filzen's young squad wouldn't go down easy.
A 9-0 run capped by a Aguilar dialing in from long distance cut the deficit to 72-36 with 1:42 remaining.
A few empty possessions on some good looks from behind the arc allowed the Cardinals to put it away at the charity stripe despite SMU's early free throw shooting troubles.
The Royals look to bounce back Monday at Concordia. Tip-off is schedule for 7:45 p.m.
