ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – Bethel University men's basketball had to wait one extra day to try and avenge a 35-point conference opening loss that is suffered against Saint John's back on Nov. 28 in Collegeville.  That 24 hours though was well worth the wait as the Royals notched an 85-81 victory over the No. 12-ranked Johnnies inside the Robertson Center Thursday evening.

Four Royals reached double digit figures in the scoring column as Bethel notches its longing winning streak of the season at five games. The top-25 win improves BU to 13-7 on the year and 10-5 in league play. The Royals hit the road for a short two game stretch as they travel to St. Olaf on Monday before going to Saint Mary's on Wednesday.

Senior Derek Magnuson continued to climb the Bethel record books. The St. Paul native's 21 point effort moves him to 15th on the Royals all-time scoring list with 1,252 points. With six rebounds he enters the program's top-10 list with 705 career boards.

Junior guard Matt Ambriz caught fire from behind the arc going a perfect 6-for-6 en route to a team-high 22 points. Jack Jenson and Granger Kingland each chipped in 12 points and three rebounds apiece.

Consistent shooting was the key to the Bethel offense as the Royals never trailed in Thursday's contest . Ambriz set the tone early by hitting three straight 3-pointers as the Royals opened on a 14-6 run through the first four and a half minutes of play. SJU pulled back within four before going on a 4:15 scoring drought. Strong shooting from 3-point range where the Royals went 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) pushed the lead to double digits before Bethel took a 42-34 lead into the intermission.

Kingland's 3-point play opportunity with 10:30 left to go set the tone for the rest of the second half as he cashed in at the charity strip to make it 66-56. A poised BU offense, that matched a season-low six turnovers, continued to get to the basket to keep it a three possession game.

SJU showed its grit to battle back with back-to-back dunks by Lucas Walford to pull within 81-74 at the 1:23 mark.  BU had its opportunities at the free throw line but cashed in on just one of two attempts on multiple trips to the line. Oakley Baker sank his only bucket of the night as the Johnnies pulled within its closes margin since the opening minutes at 83-81 with less than 40 seconds remaining.

SJU came up with one last look to take a lead in the final five seconds but David Stokman's long range 3-pointer with a hand in his face missed back iron before sending Tyler Barker to the free throw line. Barker knocked down both clutch free throws to put it out of reach and secure the 85-81 victory.