NORTHFIELD, Minn. – In a game that determined the final spot in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs, the St. Olaf College men's basketball team suffered a season-ending 83-69 loss to Bethel University on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at Skoglund Center.
With the No. 6 seed in next week's MIAC Playoffs on the line, Zach Doely and Payton Thomsen combined for 51 points and 19 rebounds to power Bethel (13-12, 10-10 MIAC) to the 14-point win and punch the Royals' ticket to the postseason. St. Olaf (9-16, 8-12 MIAC) entered the afternoon a game behind Bethel in the standings but would have held the tiebreaker by virtue of a regular-season sweep with a win on Saturday.
Prior to the game, the Oles honored their five-member senior class, as well as Team IMPACT teammate Torin Engle, for their contributions to the program over their careers. St. Olaf's senior class included fifth-year seniors
Josh Albers and
Brendan Kauls, as well as seniors
Connor Martin,
Caleb Greer, and
Aidan Ramana.
Thomsen scored a game-high 28 points on 10-for-15 shooting from the field, including going 3-for-6 from three-point range, and 5-for-6 shooting at the foul line while also pulling down a game-high 13 rebounds for Bethel. Doely added 23 points on 10-for-17 shooting to go with six rebounds and five assists. Adam Mattes came off the bench to provide 14 points and five rebounds as he, Thomsen, and Doely accounted for 65 of the Royals' 83 points in the win.
Martin closed out his standout career with a team-high 19 points, five assists, and three steals for the Oles on a 9-for-14 shooting performance. The senior concluded his career 15th on St. Olaf's all-time scoring list with 1,132 points despite playing essentially three full seasons after his first year was reduced to four games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Martin finished his career as the Oles' all-time leader in assists per game (3.9) while ranking fifth in assists (308), eighth in points per game (14.5), ninth in field goals made (465), and 10th in field-goal percentage (.527).
Sophomore
Kobe Kirk was the only other Ole in double figures with 17 points and six rebounds, going 7-for-15 from the field and 3-for-5 from behind the arc. After shooting 18-for-35 (51.4 percent) from the field in the opening half, St. Olaf cooled off to 10-for-33 (30.3 percent) after the break. On the flip side, Bethel shot 17-for-29 (58.6 percent) after the break to outscore the Oles by a 42-27 margin in the second half.
Kirk scored the first 10 points of the game for St. Olaf over the first 5:15 before Bethel held the sophomore to two points over the remainder of the half. The Royals held the largest lead of the half at seven on two occasions in the final six-plus minutes, but the Oles took a one-point lead into the locker room after Albers beat the buzzer with a tip-in. Thomsen and Doely combined for 25 of Bethel's 41 first-half points, while Kirk and Martin had 12 apiece to provide 24 of St. Olaf's 42.
In the second half, the Royals stretched their lead to 10 at 56-46 with 12:58 remaining following an 8-0 run and led 61-50 before the Oles scored seven consecutive points to get back within four with 8:21 to go. Bethel responded by scoring the next five points to extend its lead back to nine and led by at least six the rest of the way. Ramana, who served as a student manager and student coach before joining the roster this season, hit a three-pointer at the buzzer for the first points of his collegiate career.
