WINONA, Minn. – In a tale of two halves matchup, the Bethel University men's basketball team fell to Saint Mary's Saturday afternoon in Winona, 85-76.
Leading 42-33 at half, the Cardinals outscored the Royals 52-34 through the final 20 minutes where Bethel's lead got as large as 12.
Bethel shot 46.8 percent for the game while Saint Mary's finished 54.4 percent.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
• Bethel contorled the opening half with its only deficit in the first 20 minutes coming early at 5-3.
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Joey Kidder knocked down a jumper making it 26-16 with 8:42 to go before the break.
• The Royals led by 12 on two occasions until SMU pulled within 40-33 with under two to go.
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Nick Burke knocked down a jumper in the final minute giving the Royals a 42-33 lead at the break.
Second Half
• The Royals caught fire from 3-point range as Burke knocked down three triples in just over three minutes making it 54-43.
• Thomsen cased in from behind the arc with 13:34 left keeping the advantage at double digits, 61-50.
• Bethel went on a 4:30 minute scoring drought while SMU picked up steam from 3-point land as the Cardinals took the lead back with 7:08 to go at 66-63.
• Saint Mary's put it away at the free throw line in the final five minutes where they were 9-of-10 while hitting all three shots from the field in that stretch.
KEY PERFORMERS
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Nick Burke finished with a team-high 17 points behind four threes.
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Payton Thomsen chipped in 15 points with four assists and three steals.
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Zach Doely and
Emmanuel Schmitter each chipped in 13 points.
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Joey Kidder finished with 11 boards, six points and four assists.
UP NEXT
The Royals look to bounce back Wednesday at Macalester. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
