Men's Basketball 1/14/02 -- Bethel 87, Augsburg 68 

BOXSCORE

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. (1/14/02) -- Bethel College scored the first 17 points of the game, as the Royals never trailed in cruising to a 87-68 rout of Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball game Monday night at Bethel's Robertson Center.

Trevor Larson (Sr., Stillwater, Minn.) hit two straight three-pointers to open the game and had eight of his team-high 21 points in the 17-0 Bethel run in the first five minutes, 33 seconds of the game.

Bethel improved to 10-3 overall and 6-3 in MIAC play, while Augsburg dropped to 6-8 overall and 2-7 in the MIAC. The Auggies have lost their last seven games in a row and eight of their last nine games, after starting the season 5-0.

The Royals took advantage of six Auggie turnovers in the game-opening run, as the Auggies committed a season-high 26 turnovers in the contest. Bethel converted 39 points off of turnovers in the game, compared to 12 Auggie points off of 10 Bethel turnovers.

The Royals stretched the lead to 36-8 with 7:04 to go in the first half, and led by as many as 29 points in the opening stanza. The Royals led 48-21 at halftime. Augsburg chipped into the Royal advantage, cutting the lead to 10 points, 75-65, with 4:39 left in the second half. But the Bethel lead never dipped below 10 points the rest of the way.

Larson scored 14 of his 21 points for the Royals in the first half, adding four steals in the game. Andy Gilbert (Jr., Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) scored 19 points and had seven rebounds and three steals in the game, with Eric Robertson (Sr., Andover, Minn./Anoka HS) adding 18 points and six rebounds. Brett Repasky (Sr., Maple Grove, Minn.) had nine points, five assists and two steals, and Drew Brodin (Jr., Vadnais Heights, Minn./Mounds View HS) had six points, five assists and two steals.

Augsburg was paced by Adam Kotewa (Jr., Mankato, Minn./West HS), who had 16 of his game-high 22 points in the second half. He hit four 3-pointers. Zac Rosen (Fr., Plymouth, Minn./West Lutheran HS) notched his first career double-double, coming off the bench to score 10 points with 10 rebounds. Shawn Johnson (Fr., Faribault, Minn.) had eight points, and Michael Leach (Fr., Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS) had seven points and three assists. Nick Peters (Jr., St. Peter, Minn./Nicollet HS) had six points and four assists.

Both teams return to MIAC play on Wednesday (1/16) at 7:30 p.m., with Augsburg hosting Gustavus and Bethel playing at Concordia-Moorhead.