WAVERLY, Iowa – In a tale of two halves, the Bethel University men's basketball team used an explosive second half offensively defeating Wartburg College on the road Tuesday evening, 73-68.
Outscoring the Knights 47-30 in the second half Bethel improves to 2-1 on the year. The Royals return to the Robertson Center on Saturday where they open up MIAC play against Hamline. Tipoff comes at 1 p.m.
With four players scoring in double figures, senior guard Jack Jenson led the Royals with 16 points while dishing out a career-high eight assists. Junior forward Chandler Wellman had himself another career-high night with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Senior Hudson Urbanus added 12 points while Isaiah Carver-Bagley rounded out the top scorers with 10. Senior Granger Kingland grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, four of which came on the offensive end.
Dialing in from long distance was Jamal Davis capping off a 20-8 run that gave Bethel the lead back for the first time since the early parts of the first. Holding a 62-61 advantage with 4:03 left, the Royals overcame a 13-point deficit before the Knights took the lead right back on the next possession.
The Royals limited themselves to two second half turnovers as part of the comeback. Wellman knocked down one of Bethel's five second-half three pointers with under two minutes to go giving Bethel the lead for the remainder of the contest. The Knights cut it to a one possession game with 46 seconds left, but a driving Jenson found Davis on the wing knocking down the dagger as the shot clock expired and 20 seconds remained.
Bethel struggled to find a rhythm offensively in the first half where Wartburg led for the final 13 minutes. An 8-2 run for Bethel pulled the Royals within one, but the Knights defense responded by keeping BU off the scoreboard for the final 4:34 taking a 38-26 lead into the locker room.
Story by Austin Lagesse, Bethel University Assistant Sports Information Director