St. Bonifacius, Minn. - The Crown College Storm came out in the first half on fire from three-point land, but the height and experience of Bethel was too much for the Storm as they fell 90-66.
 
Just one game into the season, a large and raucous crowd saw an enormous amount of promise from the young Storm team.  Six new faces saw the court for Crown, and although Bethel came out with a victory, Crown was able to take many positives away from the game.
 
Led by junior forward David Glover (Burnsville, Minn.), the Storm shot 62.5% from behind the arc in the first half.  Glover finished the game with 21 points and three rebounds on 7 of 15 shooting.  Also contributing for the Storm was junior forward Taylor Jones (Lindstrom, Minn.) with 12 points and three assists, and sophomore guard Truman Shetler (Kolona, Iowa) with 13 points.
 
The Storm hung with Bethel through the early part of the first half, leading 17-16 with 13:23 remaining, but a big run by the visitors led to a 54-30 halftime deficit.  Rebounding was a distinct advantage for the Royals who dismantled the Storm with a 44-29 advantage on the glass, including multiple offensive rebounds on key possessions in the first half.
 
Head coach Luke Herbert had this to say after the game.  "We were really happy with the amount of support we got tonight, and it was great to see a full gym and a lot of excitement from the fans.  We really need to be more consistent on the offensive end and find confidence in our identity as a team.  I was happy with how we battled early in the game, but Bethel is a good team and we needed to play a full 40 minutes to stay with them."
 
Crown heads to Waverly, Iowa this weekend for the Buzz Levick Tournament hosted by Wartburg College.