Hoosier State Today

The Bethel University men's basketball team had a tall task at hand traveling to one of the MIAC's hottest teams in Saint Mary's University. The Cardinals, who have now won six straight, for the first time since 2010-11, defended their home court hitting tough shots down the stretch to defeat the Royals, 77-65.

The Royals shooting got better as the night went on finishing 41.7 percent from the field while Saint Mary's had a 48.4 percent clip. Bethel held the edge on the boards, 38-32, but it was Saint Mary's who took better care of the rock with only seven turnovers while forcing the Royals into 14.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
• Zach Doely took over the opening five minutes of the game scoring eight points in a stretch that saw BU hold its largest lead of the night at 15-6.
• The lead vanished and flipped towards the Cardinals as the Royals were held to a lone free throw make between the 12:07 and 7:19 mark.
• Sam Zilmer's second chance put back gave the Royals a lead for another three-minute stretch.
• SMU hit some tough shots to garner the lead back as the sent the Royals into the locker room down 34-28.

Second Half
• Limited to free throws early on in the second, Doely's hook shot with 16:54 left pulled BU within 44-33.
• The MIAC's leading scorer in Raheem Anthony, who was held to five first-half points, took over in the second half as his dunk with 11:27 left gave SMU its largest lead of the night at 59-40.
• Joey Kidder had a breakout second half dropping 18, but the nation's leading three-point shooting team in Saint Mary's had done its damage.
 
KEY PERFORMERS
• Zach Doely finished with a team-high 23 points, on 10-of-17 shooting, while adding nine rebounds
• Joey Kidder tallied a career-high 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
• Payton Thomsen finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.

UP NEXT

The Royals stay on the road traveling to MIAC-leading Saint John's Saturday, Jan. 14 for a 1 p.m. tipoff.

Original source can be found here.