ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Bethel University men's basketball team saw four starters reach double figures while earning a hard fought 87-63 bounce back win over St. Olaf Saturday afternoon inside the Robertson Center.
 
Bethel (4-9, 2-6 MIAC) dominated the boards out rebounding the Oles 47-25 including a 13-4 edge on the offensive end. Defensively they held the st. Olaf (7-5, 3-4 MIAC) to 37.5 percent from the floor, their second lowest percentage of the season, while the Royals shot 50.7 percent on the offensive end.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
• An evenly played first half saw only four lead changes and two ties.
• The Royals came out shooting and led for the opening nine minutes of the game.
• A three-minute scoring drought midway through turned the lead over to St. Olaf garnering its biggest lead of the afternoon at 27-18.
• Back-to-back threes from Payton Thomsen and Joey Kidder got the Royals within one until Zach Doely completed the three-point play giving BU the lead.
• St. Olaf took the lead back briefly before the Royals closed the half on a 9-0 to lead 42-40.
 
Second Half
• The Royals shot lights in the second half going 54.5 percent from the floor. Meanwhile on the defensive end they held the Oles to 29 percent (9-of-31).
• A steal and a layup by Kidder 1:15 into the second gave the Royals the lead for good.
• Doely's second chance putback helped the advantage reach double digits at 67-56.
• At the end, BU emptied the bench with a highlight make from the top of the arc by Chase D'Agostino
 
KEY PERFORMERS
• Zach Doely led all scorers with 23 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for his second straight double-double.
• Paytom Thomsen knocked down four threes as part of his 20-point afternoon.
• Joey Kidder in 36 minutes of action matched a career-high 19 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals.
 
UP NEXT
The Royals start a two-game road stretch Wednesday, Jan. 11 at Saint Mary's. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. Read Full Article