ARDEN HILLS, Minn.—The stars came out to play in Wednesday night's MIAC men's basketball matchup between Bethel University and Macalester College, as four players scored 20 or more points and seven finished in double figures. The Royals outscored the Scots 34-30 in the opening frame, but Macalester refused to cool down throughout the entire night and pushed BU to the brink. Bethel was unable to score the go-ahead basket at the end of regulation, but made great use of the overtime period to defeat the Scots 81-74.
 
Macalester finished the game shooting 52.6 percent from the floor and 40.0 percent from downtown. Add a 72.7 percent effort from the free throw line and you've got three key reasons why the Scots were able to keep Bethel on its toes all night.
 
The Royals, however, countered Macalester's effort with a 32-28 rebounding advantage and four less turnovers. Both of those figures helped Bethel outscore Mac 44-34 in the paint and 16-11 off turnovers. Moreover, the Scots came into Wednesday's night's contest with their bench averaging 13.7 points per game in the last four outings and BU was able to out-duel Macalester 9-0 in bench production.
 
Bethel's offense went toe-to-toe with the Scot's, as the Royals finished the night shooting nearly 51 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from outside the arc. The navy and gold continued to showcase their ability to win games when shooting above 70 percent from the foul stripe, as the Royals ended tonight's game shooting 76.2 percent from the line.
 
Kyle Zimmermann had an exceptional performance Wednesday evening, as the senior forward scored 23 points, boarded 15 rebounds, and recorded two steals in the win. It was Zimmermann's ninth double-double of the season and the eighth time he's surpassed the 20-point plateau.
 
Brycen Wojta also finished with 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting and 4-of-7 from downtown in 42 minutes of play. Wojta was also 4-of-4 from the charity stripe, which makes him 38-of-43 (88.3%) from the line in the last nine games.
 
Bridgeport Tusler was Bethel's third player to score in double figures, as the freshman guard added 15 points, five rebounds, and four steals. Tusler was 6-of-7 from the floor.
 
Macalester's Kareem Ismall had a game-high 25 points, while Dylan Kilgour poured in 24 for the Scots.
 
Now 14-7 on the season and 10-6 in conference play, Bethel welcomes Augsburg College to the Robertson Center Gym for their second-to-last regular season home game of the season this Saturday. The Royals and Auggies will play after the women's game, which is set to tip at 1 p.m.