ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College men's basketball team battled Bethel University in a non-conference game Thursday night in the Leonard Center, coming up short, 79-72. The Scots are now 1-5 on the year, while the Royals improve to 3-1.

After surrendering the first five points of the game, Macalester used a 12-6 run, capped by a three-pointer from junior forward Ryan Brush (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue), to lead 12-11 early in the first half. Bethel responded with a 15-6 spree to regain the upper hand, 26-18 with 9:14 on the clock. The Scots cut it to four three times before the Royals hit a couple free throws to make the halftime score, 32-26 Bethel. Macalester held the Royals to 38.5 percent shooting in the first half but shot just 34.3 percent from the field.

At the beginning of the second half, Brush hit a three and junior guard Eric Wentz (Minot, N.D./Minot) made a layup to pull to within one, 32-31. Again Bethel responded with eight straight points to push the lead back up to nine, 41-32 four minutes into the half. The advantage grew to as many as 12 until a pair of free throws by senior guard Robert Grace IV (Minneapolis, Min./The Blake School) and two baskets from junior forward Noah Shannon (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) made the score 53-47 midway through the half.

After AJ Kaul made a three, Grace answered with a three of his own, then Wentz converted a conventional three-point play to make it a three-point game, 56-53 with less than nine minutes on the clock. But back-to-back threes from Peyton Thomsen restored the Royals' nine-point edge and stopped the Scots' momentum. Macalester came within four three times in the final five minutes of the game but was unable to get any closer, as Bethel held on for the win, 79-72.

The Scots shot 53.1 percent from the field and made 5-of-12 from three-point range in the second half, but the Royals drained 7-of-12 from deep and shot 60.0 percent from the floor after halftime to stifle Macalester's comeback. Shannon registered his second double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds to go with five assists and four steals. Sophomore guard Kaden Holdbrook (Palo Alto, Calif./Gunn) scored 14 points, Wentz finished with 13 points and Brush made it three Scots in double figures with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point range. Grace contributed a season-high nine points. Adam Mattes scored 19 points for Bethel, with Emmanuel Schmitter adding 17 points and 15 rebounds.

Macalester heads to Iowa to take on Grinnell College on Saturday, Nov. 23. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m. in Grinnell, Iowa.