ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College men's basketball team dropped a MIAC game to Bethel University, 77-58 Saturday afternoon in the Leonard Center. The Scots fall to 2-6 overall and 0-4 in conference play, while the Royals improve to 4-4, 2-2 MIAC.

The first half remained tight throughout, with 10 ties and eight lead changes. After a conventional three-point play by Granger Kingland put Bethel on top, 33-29 with 1:27 left, back-to-back threes from sophomore center Jackson Henningfield (Lake Mary, Fla./Lyman) and first year guard Eric Sathy (Cupertino, Calif./Homestead) sent the Scots into the locker room with a 35-33 halftime lead. Macalester shot 58.3 percent from the field, including 7-of-13 from three-point range, in the first half.

In the second half, the Scots pushed their lead to 40-35 early before the Royals used an 18-3 run to make the score 53-43 with 10 minutes remaining. Seven straight points by Macalester, starting with a three from Sathy and ending with a steal and dunk by senior forward Wyatt Ferm (Farmington, Minn./Farmington), brought the Scots to within three, 53-50 with 8:16 on the clock. Bethel responded with an 8-0 run of its own for a 61-50 advantage, and Macalester never came closer than seven points the rest of the way. The Scots shot 33.3 percent from the floor and made 2-of-10 from beyond the arc after halftime.

Henningfield was 4-of-8 from three-point range and had 18 points, five rebounds and two blocks. Ferm finished with 13 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals, while Sathy also hit four threes en route to 13 points. Bethel was led by Matt Ambriz, who scored 27 points and made six three-pointers, and Kingland, who had 21 points and eight rebounds.

Macalester plays its final game before winter break on Wednesday, Dec. 12 at Hamline. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. in St. Paul, Minn.