ST. BONIFACIUS, MINN.—Despite never having a lead throughout regulation, the Bethel University men's basketball team hit big buzzer-beating shots over the final three periods of the contest. That included Jay Neubert's jumper in the final seconds of double overtime that sealed an 89-87 2OT road victory over Crown on Saturday afternoon.
The Royals improve to 3-4, while the Polars fall to 3-6.
Bethel 89, Crown 87
It took an 18-point, 53-35 cushion for the Polars with 12:53 remaining in the first half to ignite a Royals squad that responded with a 34-16 run to close the game. Jay Neubert, who scored 14 second-half points for the Royals, was fouled at the three-point line down 69-66 with 00:02 on the clock. He nailed all three free throws for the Royals to send the game to overtime at 69-69.
All seven of the game's lead changes took place throughout both overtime periods. The first overtime period began with Nick Burke giving Bethel their first lead of the contest at 71-69 with 4:45 on the clock, and ended with his three-pointer at the buzzer that made the score 78-78.
Burke paced the Royals with six points in double overtime. His final points occurred off a made layup he was fouled on that gave Bethel an 87-84 lead with 00:18 left. After Burke missed his free throw attempt, the Polars' Parker Behnke rebounded the ball and took it up to the three-point line, where he sunk a shot with 00:05 remaining that knotted things at 87-87. That was enough time for Bethel to take the ball across the court to Jay Neubert, who nailed a jumper that locked an 89-87 win.
Nick Burke registered 31 points on 12-of-19 shooting, five assists, and two steals for Bethel. Neubert came off the bench with 20 points on 6-of-15 shooting, and five boards. Sam Gingras added 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting and seven rebounds, while Blake Schmitz narrowly missed a double double with 12 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks.
Crown got 27 points and four assists from Anthony Knight, while Parker Behnke added 26 points and eight boards for Crown. Tyler Smith nearly had the rare college triple double with 15 rebounds, 10 assists, eight points, and four steals.
Bethel finished .457 (32-of-70) shooting, and .355 (11-of-31) from the three-point line.
The Royals will travel to Augsburg on Wednesday, December 10 at 7 p.m.
