ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – Bethel University men's basketball team went neck and neck with non-conference foe UW-La Crosse Saturday afternoon in a game that saw eight ties and nine lead changes. Following an even first half, UW-La Crosse pulled away from the Royals in the closing minutes as Bethel fell by a score of 69-64.

Senior center Derek Magnuson continued to make his presence known in the paint scoring 23 points to go along with 11 rebounds.  Junior guard Jack Jenson tallied 19 points along with a game-high six assists.

The Royals will kick off conference play Wednesday, Nov. 28 traveling to Saint John's with tip-off set for 7 p.m.

Magnuson kept BU's hopes alive with 1:46 remaining as a layup pulled BU within one. A layup by the Eagles put the lead back to three before the Royals called timeout with 20 seconds left. Out of the Royal timeout, Jack Jenson missed the open look from long range before an offensive rebound by Magnuson allowed Tyler Baker to get a look behind the arc but the shot rimmed in and out.  The Eagles sealed the win knocking down a pair of free throws with two seconds remaining.

The Royals led a majority of the second half before the Eagles took the lead for good in the final two minutes. A layup by Magnuson and a long 3-pointer form Noah Whalen forced the Eagles to take a timeout as the Royals led by three with 8:27 remaining. Jenson went on to score six of the next eight for the Royals, but UW-La Crosse responded out of another timeout with an 8-0 run to take a 65-62 lead.

The first half saw three lead changes and five ties as the teams traded baskets in the early stages. Bethel stopped an Eagles 10-1 run thanks to layup by Magnuson at the 5:37 mark.  Trailing by as many as eight with 5:05 left to go the Royals continued to chip at the UW- La Crosse lead. In the final seconds of the half,  Granger Kingland forced an Eagles turnover before knocking down a 3-pointer that rattled around before dropping in at the buzzer to send the teams to the locker room all knotted up at 36-36.

UW-La Crosse's Brendon Manning put in a game-high 24 points, while Ethan Anderson added 11.