WINONA, Minn. – The Bethel University men's basketball team secured a spot in the MIAC Playoffs with a hard fought 88-83 win at Saint Mary's University Wednesday evening inside Saint Mary's Gym.

The win pushed the Royals winning streak to a season-long seven games. Bethel improves to 15-7 on the season and 12-5 in league play. The Royals will play their final regular season home game on Saturday against Concordia. Along with alumni day, BU will host Senior Day where it will recognize the careers of its senior class in a pregame ceremony. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.

Matt Ambriz led the strong offense with 21 points, 16 of which came in the second half. Jack Jenson added 17 points with three steals while Derek Magnuson scored 16 points. Granger Kingland added 13 points to go along with a game-high eight rebounds. Tyler Barker rounded out the starters with nine points and eight assists.

Both teams shot to a stalemate in the first half. Saint Mary's (7-16, 3-15 MIAC) held its largest lead of the game at the 8:18 mark in the first with a jumper from Jacob Chilson to make it 31-25. The Royals chipped away at the deficit as Kingland's jumper with 1:45 left gave the lead back to Bethel at 40-38. Back-to-back 3-pointers from both squads and a layup by SMU's Sawyer Rosner in the final 90 seconds sent the teams to the locker room dead even at 43-43.

It was in the second half where Ambriz took over going 4-of-6 from 3-point range. A three by Ambriz with 3:15 left tied things up at 81-81 as the Royals saw a seven point lead slip away before overcoming a six point deficit. Just two minutes later he knocked down his fifth three of the game to give Bethel a three point lead. The Bethel defense cause two turnovers on the Cardinals final two possessions as Barker knocked down a pair of free throws in the final seconds to clinch the road victory.