ARDEN HILLS, MINN.—The Bethel University men's basketball team dug themselves out of a 9-point, 62-53 deficit with 10:45 remaining in the second half in an 85-83 victory over Saint Mary's (Minn.) at Robertson Center Gymnasium on Wednesday night.
The Royals improve to 5-7, 2-2 MIAC, while the Cardinals fall to 1-13, 0-5 MIAC.
Bethel 85, Saint Mary's (Minn.) 83
The Cardinals led for all but exactly 1:00 of time in the first half, which ended with them in front of 40-31. The first points of the second half resulted in Saint Mary's' largest lead of the game at 42-31 with 19:50 on the clock.Â
That cushion steadily dissolved before the Royals grabbed their first lead since early in the first half when Blake Schmitz's two free throws tied the game 74-74, and put them in front for good 75-74 with 4:46 left in the contest. Bethel went on to score eight-of-10 points from the free throw line to ice an 85-83 win.
Five Royals eclipsed double figure, led by Jack Charbonneau's double double 19 points and 11 rebounds. Schmitz netted 16 points, followed by 14 from Sam Gingras. Nick Burke and Jay Neubert netted 13 and 12 points, respectively, for a Bethel squad that finished .492 (30-of-61) shooting and .833 (20-of-24) from the free throw line.
The Cardinals had the upper hand with a .516 (32-of-62) field goal percentage, a .381 (8-of-21) three-point mark, and a .846 (11-of-13) figure from the charity stripe. SMU had five double figure scorers, led by John Palmer's 22 points.Â
The Royals will host Carleton at Robertson Center Gym on Saturday, January 10 at 3 p.m.
