St. Olaf (4-7, 2-4 MIAC) trailed by only six at the break, 43-37.
Bethel, which was 8-of-11 from three in the final 20 minutes, went on a 10-0 run to start the second half and a 20-4 run moments later.
The Oles have now lost five straight overall and three in a row in MIAC play.
Jon Butala had a team-best 14 points for St. Olaf. Bobby Hunter added 10 in the loss.
Tyson Bjorklund and Tim Madson chipped in 13 and 10 points for the Royals.
St. Olaf hosts the University of St. Thomas on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. The game can be heard on the St. Olaf Athletics Website.
BETHEL UNIVERSITY 97, ST. OLAF COLLEGE 67 ST. OLAF COLLEGE (4-7, 2-4 MIAC) Jon Butala 6-14 0-0 14; Bobby Hunter 4-8 2-3 10; Chad Norberg 2-5 3-4 8; Steve Banick 2-8 2-2 6; Mitch Haugen 1-5 4-4 6; Jon Bain 1-6 4-7 6; Dan VanDerWoude 2-5 0-0 5; Brady McMahon 1-3 2-2 4; Chris Clark 1-1 0-0 2; Robert McDonald 1-2 0-0 2; Matt Christensen 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 22-60 19-24 67. BETHEL UNIVERSITY (6-4, 1-4 MIAC) Trent Perry 8-13 0-0 20; Charles Meadowcroft 10-16 0-0 20; Tyson Bjorklund 4-9 2-2 13; Tim Madson 4-6 0-0 10; Matt Fredrickson 3-4 2-2 8; Steve Strom 2-3 2-2 6; Isaac Hinrichs 3-5 0-0 6; Cory Laugen 2-5 0-0 6; Chris Vavra 2-3 0-1 5; Ben Cook 1-2 0-0 2; Nick Jerry 0-2 0-0 0; Peter Rolando 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 39-69 7-9 97. St. Olaf College.............. 37 30 - 67 Bethel University............. 43 54 - 97