COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The Bethel University men's basketball team never trailed in its dominant 81-58 road win over No. 5-ranked Saint John's Saturday afternoon. It's the first time since Jan. 21, 2009 that the Royals leave Collegeville with a win and it comes as the second-largest margin of victory over the Johnnies.

Shooting a season-best 54.4 percent (31-of-57) from the field, the Bethel (3-3, 3-1 MIAC) defense forced Saint John's (3-2, 2-2 MIAC) to their lowest home shooting percentage since 2015 at 41.1 percent (23-of-56). The Royals limited themselves to eight turnovers forcing the Johnnies into 16.

Isaiah Carver-Bagley led all scorers with 22 points, 16 of which came in the first half. Chandler Wellman matched a career-high 21 points while adding seven rebounds. Jaren Tschetter and Isaiah Rollins finished with 13 and 12 points respectively.

The Royals got out on a 10-2 run before SJU pulled within three, eight minutes into the game. That's the closes the Johnnies got as a layup from Wellman increased the margin to double digits, where it stayed for the remainder of the game.

In the opening half, Carver-Bagley and Wellman accounted for 31 of Bethel's 39 points shooting a combined 14-of-20 from the field.

Bethel built on its 39-25 halftime lead gaining its largest advantage of 26 points on a putback from Thunder Heyer. The Royals outscored SJU 42-33 in the final 20 minutes.

Up next the Royals will host Gustavus Adolphus on Monday at 7 p.m., in what is scheduled to be the final home game of the 2021 abbreviated season.

Story provided by Austin Lagesse, Bethel University Assistant Sports Information Director