urkeARDEN HILLS, Minn. – Redshirt freshman
Nick Burke dropped 20 points in his Bethel debut as the men's basketball team fell to Northwestern 70-60 in the season opener Tuesday night inside the Robertson Center.
Burke, a redshirt freshman transfer from Truman State, was 7-of-17 from the field with four rebounds.
Despite early shooting troubles, Bethel finished 37.7 percent (23-of-61) from the field while Northwestern shot 43.9 percent (29-of-66). The difference wasn't big on the boards with UNW holding a 39-35 edge, but the Eagles added 14 offensive boards that turned into 13 points.
The Eagles held themselves to three turnovers while Bethel had 8 that translated into 14 points for UNW
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
• Through the first five minutes of the game UNW went on a 14-3 run with Bethel's only bucket coming from Burke 90 seconds into the game.
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Zach Doely ended the near five-minute scoring drought with a hook shot in the lane.
• In the final eight minutes of the half, BU got the deficit to nine on two occasions.
• The Eagles had a three with under a minute to go before Doely slammed it home making the deficit 36-26 at the break.
• Burke hit four treys in the opening 20 minutes as he had 12 points at the half.
Second Half
• UNW held a double-digit lead for a majority of the second as Bethel couldn't put together a good scoring stretch.
• A quick 5-0 run under midway through for the Eagles gave them a 60-45 advantage matching their biggest lead of the evening.
• The Royals got it to eight twice including 66-58 with two minutes left after a pair of free throws from Doely. But couldn't find a bucket until a Doely layup in the closing seconds.
KEY PERFORMERS
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Nick Burke dropped a career-high 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting and 5-of-13 behind the arc
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Caden Boettcher added eight rebounds off the bench
UP NEXT
The Royals start a three-game road stretch Saturday, Nov. 18 at Wisconsin-La Crosse. Tip off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
