ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – Tuesday night's highly-anticipated men's basketball contest between a pair of unbeaten foes lived up to its hype, as the University of Northwestern dropped a thrilling non-conference game to host Bethel University 64-62 inside the Robertson Center. The Eagles saw their five-game win streak come to an end.
In a hard-fought first half, neither team was able to take control, as the teams headed into the locker room knotted at 36 apiece.
Will Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) and
Clay Elrod (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) led a balanced first-half attack with seven points each. Derek Magnuson, Bethel's Division II transfer from the University of Minnesota-Duluth, muscled his way to 25 points in the opening frame.
The second half saw the Royals take a 10-point advantage with 5:16 remaining, but a gritty Eagles squad chipped away, using back-to-back threes from Elrod and
Cody Sprenger (Grey Eagle, Minn./Long Prairie-Grey Eagle) to trim the BU lead to 63-59.
Porter Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Home School)'s old-fashioned three-point play on the next possession put the Eagles within one, but the Royals tacked on a free throw and held on to with the contest, 64-62.
Sprenger finished with a team-high 13 points and eight boards. Elrod was also in double figures, scoring 10.
Peter Maring (Harris, Minn./Cambridge Christian) was a spark off the bench, as the junior grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. The Eagles did a great job slowing down Magnuson in the second half, as they held the 6-7 forward to just four second-half points.
Coach Grosz got a big boost from his bench Tuesday night, as the Eagles outscored the Royals bench 20-5. UNW dominated the glass, pulling down 45 rebounds to BU's 33.
Both teams struggled shooting the ball from long range, as the Eagles and Royals both shot 20 percent from three-point land.
UNW will hit the road for a pair of games this weekend, playing at Northland Friday and at Finlandia Saturday. Friday's contest with Northland will be the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) opener for the Eagles.
