ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — Down 50-32 at halftime the Bethel University men's basketball team shot 22-for-32 from the field and 50% from three to win on come from behind fashion over Crown College 89-88.
Adam Mattes shot 73% from the field, scoring a career-high 27 points, 20 of which came in the second half to help The Royals take down the Polars and improve to 7-2 on the year.
Payton Thomsen nailed a three pointer to get the Royals on the board and take an early 3-2 lead. Bethel opened up a six point advantage on an Emmauel Schmitter jumper from beyond-the-arc. A 18-2 run put Crown ahead 20-10 seven minutes into the first half.
Nick Burke drove the lane, drawing a foul and making both free throw attempts to cut the deficit to ten.
Adam Mattes got the scoring started in the second half, grabbing a bucket on a layup to make it 50-34.
Payton Thomsen nailed a three pointer to make it a 12-point game with 17 minutes to play.
Nick Burke worked his way into the paint laying one in off the glass to make it 66-52.
Payton Thomsen dished one off to
Nick Burke, who promptly nailed a corner three point attempt, to make it a three point game with five minutes to go.
Adam Mattes followed up by draining a three pointer of his own to tie it at 78.
Adam Mattes gave Bethel its first lead of the second half, driving the lane and floating one off the glass and in to make it 87-85 with 1:45 to play.
The Polars regained a one point lead with a layup of their own, before
Payton Thomsen drew a foul and knocked down both attempts from the charity stripe to give the Royals an 89-88 lead with under 10 seconds to go.
Up next:
The Royals are back in action Saturday afternoon at the Robertson Center Gym to play host to Martin Luther College. Tip off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
