ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's basketball team went cold in the second half of a 87-63 road loss to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) foe Bethel University on Saturday afternoon at Robertson Center.
Bethel (4-9, 2-6 MIAC) outscored St. Olaf (7-5, 3-4 MIAC) by a 45-23 margin in the second half to break open a 42-40 game at the half, as the Oles shot just 29.0 percent (9-for-31) from the field after halftime. Conversely, the Royals connect on 54.6 percent (18-for-33) of their shots in the second half and held a commanding 47-25 advantage in rebounding in the win.
First year
Kobe Kirk scored a team-high 15 points on 7-for-15 shooting for St. Olaf, which shot just 37.5 percent (24-for-64) for the game while falling despite committing only eight turnovers on the afternoon. Junior
Connor Martin and senior
Michael Meriggioli were also in double figures with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
Zach Doely led four Royals in double figures with a double-double of 23 points, 17 rebounds, and five assists. Doely was 10-for-14 from the field and had eight offensive rebounds for Bethel, which also got 20 points from Payton Thomsen, 19 points, nine rebounds, and five assists from Joey Kidder, and 11 points from Avery Mast.
Doely and Thomsen combined for 25 first-half points and Bethel's starting five scored all 42 of the Royals' points in the first half to help the hosts to the two-point halftime lead. After Bethel got out to an early 13-7 lead, St. Olaf went on an extended 20-5 run over a seven-minute stretch to take its largest lead of the game at 27-18 with 9:20 to go in the half.
The Oles maintained a seven-point lead inside the final five minutes of the half until Thomsen and Kidder hit back-to-back three-pointer as part of a 9-0 run that gave the Royals a 35-33 lead with 2:25 to go. Kirk capped a nine-point first half with the final bucket of the half to make it a 42-40 Bethel lead at halftime.
St. Olaf managed just 23 points in the second half – its lowest-scoring half of the season – as Bethel pulled away for the 24-point win. The Oles tied the game twice in the first 1:24 of the second half and was within two at 56-54 with 12:12 remaining before the Royals went on a 14-2 run to stretch their lead to double figures. Bethel's lead did not dip below 11 points over the final 8:27.
Next up for St. Olaf is a road matchup with crosstown-rival Carleton College on Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 7 p.m. at West Gym. The Knights are currently 11-1 overall and sit atop the MIAC standings with a 6-1 record in conference play.
