BETHEL WENT UP AGAINST THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS IN A MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME

On Feb. 18 Bethel and St. Thomas went up against each other in a men’s basketball game.

Bethel raced out to a quick 5-2 lead with 17 minutes left in the first half. St. Thomas didn’t panic however. They let the game come to them.

Bethel’s Bridgeport Tusler attacked the basket and came up with layups. His teammates did a good job of getting him the ball in spots where he could shoot it.

St. Thomas guard Grant Shaeffer came up with layups and mid-range jump shots. St. Thomas used a lot of time off the shot clock. Cortez Tillman also came up with 3-point shots for St. Thomas.

Both teams battled as the score went back and forth in the first half.

On the defensive end Tusler was able to slow down the guy he was guarding.

Bethel called a timeout with 9:25 left in the first half. The score was St. Thomas 17, Bethel 11.

St. Thomas seemed to have trouble passing the ball down the floor as they turned it over on long passes. Bethel’s defense created problems for St. Thomas. When St. Thomas turned it over, Bethel wasn’t able to convert on the offensive end.  

St. Thomas guard Marcus Alipate was able to take good mid-range jump shots. His teammates saw that he was able to knock down shots so they were able to get him the ball in the paint, where he made layups.

Bethel looked to the ball inside on back cuts. They were able to make layups off cuts. St. Thomas used multiple defenses as they wanted to confuse Bethel.

St. Thomas Cortez Tillman took the ball hard to the basket. He looked to consistently shoot layups and mid-range jump shots.

Bethel continued to make baskets. They wanted to cut into their deficit.

St. Thomas called a timeout with 1:56 left in the first half. The score was St. Thomas 29, Bethel 26.

Both teams attacked the basket late in the first half. But the defensive pressure didn’t let either team take clear shots.

At halftime the score was St. Thomas 34, Bethel 28.

Bethel looked to get the ball into the hands of Brycen Wojta.  Wojta who was open in the paint, came up with shots throughout the game.

Bethel came up with steals and was able to convert on the offensive end. That didn’t seem to faze St. Thomas to much as they kept attacking the basket looking for layups.

Bethel started taking 3-point shots. They struggled shooing the deep 3-point shots. They kept shooting it. St. Thomas came up with the rebounds however.

Bethel called a timeout with 15:48 left in regulation. The score was St. Thomas 41, Bethel 30.

Bethel continued to attack the basket and were able to cut into the deficit.

Bethel called a timeout with 12:23 in regulation. The score was St. Thomas 45, Bethel 36.

St. Thomas pushed the ball down the floor and made layups in transition. They were a little quicker than Bethel.

Tusler took the ball hard to the basket and came up with layups. Bethel came up with some huge shots and were able to slow down the St. Thomas offense.

Bethel got to within two points with 3:30 left in regulation at 52-50. Tusler got hot as he make shots that he put up from the paint.

The score get back and forth late in the game.

St. Thomas called a timeout with 1:18 left in regulation. The score was St. Thomas 57, Bethel 55.

The game was tied at 57 with 5.7 seconds left when St. Thomas called a timeout.

The game was tied at the end of regulation. There was a 5:00 overtime period.

As the overtime period got underway both teams continued to make baskets.

Bethel kept on looking to get the ball into the hands of Brycen Wojta, Tusler and Kyle Zimmermann.

They all came up with layups and mid-range jump shots.

The score went back and forth late in the game. Bethel came up with layups in the overtime period.

Bethel came away with the 71-65 victory over St. Thomas.

The leading scorers for St. Thomas were Nord with 16 points, Alipate 13 points, Saarela 10 points, Tillman with 9 points and Taylor Montero with 8 points.

The leading scorers for Bethel were Wojta with 24 points, Zimmermann with 16 points and Tusler with 14 points.