Northfield, Minn. – Tommy Drake (Fy./Eden Prairie, Minn.) scored 20 points, Kyle Beste (Sr./St. Louis Park, Minn.) added 16 points and Dan Forkrud (Jr./Rosemount, Minn.) recorded his second straight double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, but host Carleton College got only seven points from the rest of their team as they fell to Bethel University, 60-58.
Carleton started out hot, going on a 17-6 run in the first half to open up a 30-19 lead with 5:11 to go in the half. Bethel then went on a 13-3 spurt to narrow the gap to 33-32 at halftime.
Drake, Beste, and Forkrud were the only Knight players to score in the first half, in which Bethel shot a blistering 53.8 percent from the field.
The second half was tightly contested, as it featured 10 lead changes and six ties. Neither team led by more than three points in the half until Matt Fredrickson, who led the Royals with 16 points, made a hook shot in the lane to make the score 58-54 with 1:52 left.
After a pair of Beste free throws and a Travis Jones lay-up, Jake Phillips (So./Brainerd, Minn.), who had seven assists in the game, stole an outlet pass and fed Forkrud, who made an easy lay-up to cut the lead to 60-58 with 31 seconds left.
Mike Kootsikas (So./Rosemount, Minn.), who had entered the game solely for defense, then tied up Tim Gilbert on the ensuing inbounds, forcing a jump ball, which went to Carleton on the alternating the possession arrow. On the ensuing play, Anthony Baquero (Sr./Rosemount, Minn.) was just off the mark on a three. Bethel was unable to ice the game, however, going 0-2 from the free throw line in the last 20 seconds of the game, but Carleton could not take advantage, and fell to Bethel for the second time this season.
The Knights forced 21 Bethel turnovers but committed 16 themselves in what ended up being a physical but sloppy game. Carleton struggled from three-point range, shooting 3-for-20.
The game had no bearing on Carleton's MIAC Playoff situation, as they had wrapped up the third seed earlier in the week. With the win, Bethel clinched the fourth seed in the MIAC Playoffs, meaning that they will host fifth seed Concordia in the MIAC Playoff quarterfinals.
The Knights, meanwhile, will host the sixth seed Macalester on Tuesday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the West Gym. Tickets are $7 for the general public, $3 for students.
