WINONA, Minn. — When the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota and Bethel men's basketball teams squared off in their first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference meeting in early December, the Royals erupted for 53 first-half points in handing the Cardinals a 99-82 setback.
 
And when the Cardinals took the court for the teams' rematch, they were determined to write a different ending.
 
Unfortunately, Bethel seemed content to have the sequel be a mirror image of the first meeting, as the Royals again scored 53 first-half points and kept its offense shifted into overdrive—shooting 71 percent from the field in the second half—in dealing the Cardinals a 101-69 setback at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Cardinals came out swinging in the first half, scoring the game's first five points and holding a pair of six-point leads—12-6 and 14-8—in the early minutes.
 
Bethel rattled off six unanswered points to knot the game at 14-14, and, after two more deadlocks at 16-16 and 18-18, grabbed the lead for good, 20-18 on a pair of free throws by Granger Kingland with 11:30 remaining in the half.
 
And once the Royals got ahold of the lead, they weren't about to relinquish it, outscoring the Cardinals 27-11 over the final 10 minutes of the opening half—including a stretch of 14 unanswered points—to take a 51-34 lead into the locker room at the break.
 
And as good as the Royals' offense was in the first half—shooting 55 percent from the floor—they were even better in the second, knocking down 20 of 28 field goals in outscoring the Cardinals 48-35 to seal the conference win.
 
Aaron Romportl (Stillwater, Minn.) led the ay for the Cardinals, scoring 16 points on 7 of 9 shooting—including a pair of 3-pointers—while Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) added nine points, and Quashingm Smith-Pugh and Bradley Hill (Matteson, Ill.) each chipped in eight.
 
Derek Magnuson led four Royals in double figures, scoring a game-high 26 points, including 20 of the first half. Kingland finished with 19 points, with Brycen Wojta and Trevor Hall each chipping in 13.
 
The Cardinals (4-13 MIAC, 6-15 overall) are now off until next Wednesday, when they travel to Augsburg's Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis, Minn., for a 7 p.m. conference showdown with the Auggies.