Tommy Hannon scored a career-high 23 points and the No. 8-ranked Tommies (17-1 overall, 12-1 MIAC) shot 52% from the field in Saturday's 82-72 win over visiting Bethel (6-12, 3-10) in MIAC men's basketball play at Schoenecker Arena.
The Tommie win and Carleton's overtime loss at Augsburg let UST extend its conference lead to two games with seven to play.
St. Thomas in now 9-0 at home this season and has won 53 consecutive on-campus games against conference foes.
UST raced to a 28-5 lead as Bethel missed 19 of its first 21 shots. The Royals pulled within 45-38 on 10-0 run in early in the second half, but never got closer down the stretch. They hit six treys in the second half and outrebounded UST 38-30 on the day.
UST had only nine turnovers and outscored BU 29-9 at the foul line. Alex Healy had 14 points and six assists; Tyler Nicolai had 14 points; and Anders Halvorsen had 10 points and five blocks.
Tyklor Hall had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Royals, who shot 54% in the second half.
UST is home Monday to face St. Olaf.
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