SAINT PAUL, MINN.--The Hamline University men's basketball team fell to Bethel 84-80 at Hutton Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Hamline falls to 4-4, 1-1 MIAC, while the Royals improve to 6-2, 2-0 MIAC.

Bethel 84, Hamline 80

The Royals began with a lead but faced strong competition as Bradley Cimperman scored seven-consecutive points, bringing the score to 5-4 in favor of the Pipers with 17:30 left in the half. As the half progressed, Raoul Vaidya hit a three-pointer at the 14:30 mark to extend their lead to 12-6. Bethel's Payton Thomsen responded with a series of layups and a three-pointer, bringing the Royals back into contention. The closing minutes saw the Royals take control with a 9-0 run, including another basket by Thomsen, leading to a halftime score of 46-38 over Hamline.

In the second half, the Royals took an early lead with Adam Mattes scoring a layup at the 19:21 mark, bringing the score to 50-40. Raoul Vaidya managed to keep the Pipers within reach with a layup, but Nick Burke's three-pointer at 10:34 extended Bethel's advantage to 57-49. Hamline attempted a comeback with Brendan Ebel's fast-break layup that narrowed the gap to 54-49, yet the Royals maintained control, with Payton Thomsen's free throws and a layup by Blake Schmitz that pushed the score to 67-58. Austin Holt's persistence in the paint brought the Pipers closer with a layup at 1:45, but the Royals' consistent free throw shooting, particularly by Nick Burke and Caden Boettcher, secured an 84-80 victory.

Bradley Cimperman led the Pipers with a standout performance, recording 19 points, a career-high 11 rebounds, and six assists. He contributed significantly in multiple areas, including two blocks and eight-of-nine shooting from the free-throw line. Raoul Vaidya also made a strong impact, scoring 16 points and hitting two 3-pointers. Austin Holt added 17 points and nine rebounds, going six-for-ten from the field, while Brendan Ebel chipped in 12 points and four rebounds.

Payton Thomsen led the Royals with a standout performance, scoring 32 points on 11-of-20 shooting, including four 3-pointers, and going six-for-eight from the free-throw line. Thomsen also contributed two steals and three assists. Caden Boettcher followed with 15 points, making five of his nine field goal attempts and converting five of six free throws. Nick Burke added 17 points, showing perfect accuracy from the line with eight successful free throws. Blake Schmitz was notable for his defensive effort, collecting four steals while scoring ten points on four-of-five shooting.

Both teams shot 5-of-18 (.278) from the three-point line, but it was Hamline with the slight advantage in field goal percentage with a 30-of-64 (.469) mark compared to Bethel's 29-of-63 (.460) figure. The Pipers also had the upper hand in rebounds 37-34, assists 16-13, and blocks 5-0.

The Pipers will host St. Scholastica at Hutton Arena on Wednesday, December 11 at 5:30 p.m.