University of St. Thomas Athletics
Bethel
Toms start fast, outlast Bethel
2/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Senior guard Bryan Schnettler sank 7-of-9 from 3-point range en route to a game-high 29 points and Isaac Rosefelt had 21 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks as No. 6-ranked St. Thomas rolled to an 89-67 victory over Bethel in Saturday's MIAC men's basketball game at Schoenecker Arena.
Mike Keating added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the first-place Tommies (19-2 overall, 15-1 MIAC), who shot 59% from the field and outrebounded Bethel 38-34. The Toms' senior trio of Schnettler, Rosefelt and Keating scored 68 points to outscore the entire Royals' team (67).
Coach Steve Fritz' Tommies secured a first-round bye for the MIAC playoffs with a top-two seed. The Toms have won 13 of their last 14 and extended their conference home-court win streak to 15. They kept their one-game lead on St. John's, a one-point comeback winner at St. Olaf.
Lonnie Robinson chipped in eight points, four assists and three steals for the Tommies.
Tim Madson had 19 points and Mike Moberg had 16 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks for Bethel (14-6, 9-6), which had an eight-game winning streak halted. The Royals shot just 29% in the first half, including an 0-for-9 mark from 3-point range.
Down by 29 points midway through the second half, the Royals used a 23-6 run to pull within 74-62 with 5:49 to go.
But Rosefelt had all seven points in a 7-2 run over the next 2:13 to stem the Bethel rally.
Bethel's Corey Laugen had all 10 of his points in the second half.
The Toms led just 12-10 then uncorked a 21-4 run fueled by 16 points from Schnettler. They pushed the lead to 52-25 at halftime.
The Toms play Monday at Augsburg and Wednesday at Gustavus (both 5:45 p.m. starts). The Gustie game will be webcast by St. Thomas.
