ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – Upperclassmen leadership aided the Bethel University men's basketball team to a 68-62 overtime victory against Hamline University Saturday afternoon inside the Robertson Center.

Outscoring the Pipers 13-7 in the overtime period, Bethel improves to 9-7 on the year and moves above the .500 mark in conference play at 6-5. The Royals close out a three-game home stand Monday, Jan. 21 against Gustavus Adolphus. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

Senior center Derek Magnuson led all scorers with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Junior Granger Kingland scored his 14 points evenly along with 11 rebounds. Senior guard Matt Ambriz scored 11 points, 7 of which came in overtime.

The Royals led by as many as seven in the second half before the tables turned. Hamline (8-8, 5-6 MIAC) used a 15-5 run that saw four 3-pointers over a nine minute span to grab its largest lead of the game at 54-49 with 3:39 left in regulation.

A timeout by the Royals slowed the tables as Bethel came out scoring on back-to-back layups from Magnuson and Ambriz to pull within one. At the charity stripe, with under 90 seconds, left Ethan Scheuring made the back end of a two shot foul to give the Pipers a two point lead. The Royals forced an empty possession for the Pipers giving Kingland an opportunity to lay in the game tying bucket with 26 seconds left to force overtime at 55-55.

BU dominated the overtime period getting it done at the charity strip where they went 5-of-7 during the five minute stretch. After missing his five previous attempts, Ambriz sunk a clutch 3-pointer with 2:23 left to give the Royals the momentum they needed the rest of the way.

The Royals took a 32-28 lead into the break after a back-and-forth first half that saw three ties and 11 lead changes. Bethel used an 11-6 run midway through the first to jump out to a 23-16 lead. Bethel did a majority of its work behind the 3-point line where they shot 6-of-11 (54.5 percent) in the first half.