ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Hamline men's basketball team could not overcome a slow start against Bethel on Saturday afternoon, falling 86-63 to the Royals at Robertson Center in their MIAC-opener.
 
Senior Lucas Berg and junior Michael Dillon were the only two Pipers who ended in double figures, as Berg shot 75% (6-8) to end with 12 points and Dillon tallied 11 points to go along with three steals and three boards.
 
Junior Trey Prince put forward a strong rebounding effort for the Pipers, recording a career-high 14 boards to lead all players in the game.
 
The Piper offense had a sluggish start to the contest, being stuck at two points for the first eight minutes. Midway through the first half the Royals had already built up a 15-point lead, ahead 21-6. Bethel would build on this lead, until they took a 23-point advantage into halftime.
 
A 28% shooting percentage and going 0-9 from three contributing to this slow start for HU, especially since the Royals shot an impressive 57% in the half, hitting over half (7-13) of their shots from behind the arc.
 
At the start of the second half it was a different story for the Pipers, as they came out on a 13-0 run, cutting the lead to 10 with 16 minutes still left in the game. Berg was a big part of the rally, scoring six of the points in the fast start.
 
The Royals responded, however, using the next six minutes of the game to build their lead to 20 once again. From there, they would cruise to an 86-63 win.   
 
Hamline finished shooting 38.6% in the game and 20% from three. The Royals hit 50.0% of their shots in the game, including 34.6% from deep.
 
The Pipers will play continue with MIAC play on Tuesday when they will host Macalester for a 7:00 p.m. game