Gustavus beats Bethel in early conference game
Royals men’s basketball game against Gustavus Adolphus College Saturday came down to the final minute.
By Hannah Bronner, reporter
The smell of freshly popped popcorn wafted through the air as students filtered into Bethel University’s Robertson Center Gym in preparation for the men’s basketball game. A melodic pounding of basketballs set the stage. The Royals, currently 2–0, would play the Gustavus Adolphus Golden Gusties. Spectator’s hands were stamped with a red smiley face as students and parents settled into the bleachers. The opponent’s side was filled with Gustie fans.
The game was neck and neck during the first half. Zachary Doeley, a sophomore, held the team together. He scored 22 points overall, the lead scorer. He had the ball at the 3-point line and drove in for a layup. He made most of his free throws. Junior Solomon Whalen shot — and swooshed it — for three. The crowd got on their feet, people’s hands forming threes.
At the end of the first half, the Royals were up 38–33. Some spectators felt Gustavus was playing sloppily.
“It’s like some of the laziest offense I’ve ever seen,” Bethel University junior Matt Monseth said.
At the beginning of the second half, a player from Gustavus stole the ball and made the shot after his breakaway. At 14:05, the ball got thrown around. The players piled on the ground to recover the possession. Senior Phil Norris, floor cleaner, wiped up the wetness with a swiffer.
The game was tied a few minutes later. But a few minutes after that, the Royals were losing 59–54. Spectators began to get antsy. Freshman Jake Wald dribbled and passed to his teammate, but the throw was slightly out of bounds when Whalen caught it.
3:34 left in the game. The Royals were down by nine. Junior Tommy Jensen was fouled and made all three free throws. Clutch.
“As a whole, our team shot the ball really well the whole game and defended at a high level throughout,” Jensen said.
The final few minutes of the game seemed to take an hour. A time out was called at 29.1 seconds. And again at 15.2 seconds. The Bethel Royals were down by three.
Doely, who played 36 minutes overall, made a 3-pointer with 5.5 seconds to go. But the Gusties scored again.
“We have a lot of young guys in our rotation and I thought they played really well in our first kinda ‘big game’ as a team. I can’t wait to see how we are going to get better as a whole as the season goes on,” — Tommy Jensen, Bethel junior guard
The final seconds of the game were tense.
The buzzer sounded.
Bethel fans were silenced as their team was hit with loss. Final score: 71-67.
But Tommy Jensen had a positive outlook.
“We have a lot of young guys in our rotation and I thought they played really well in our first kinda ‘big game’ as a team. I can’t wait to see how we are going to get better as a whole as the season goes on,” Jensen said.
