ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – A frantic comeback in the game's final minutes came up just short, as the Macalester College men's basketball team lost a MIAC road contest at Bethel, 95-93 Saturday afternoon at the Robertson Center. The Scots fall to 4-11 overall and 1-5 in the conference, while the Royals are now 11-4 on the season and 4-1 in the MIAC.

The game went back and forth in the first half, with five lead changes and eight ties over the first 20 minutes. With the score knotted at 17-17, Bethel used a 16-8 run to take a 33-25 advantage at the 8:24 mark for the largest lead of the half. Macalester responded with a pair of threes from junior guard Eric Wentz (Minot, N.D./Minot) and a basket by sophomore guard Kaden Holdbrook (Palo Alto, Calif./Henry M. Gunn) to tie the score again at 35-35 with six minutes on the clock. With the game tied for the eighth time at 41-41, the Royals closed out the half with an 8-2 run to take a 49-43 lead at the break. Bethel shot 58.1 percent from the field in the first half compared to 48.6 percent for the Scots, who were led by Wentz with 12 points.

In the second half, the Royals maintained the upper hand early, pushing their lead up to nine, 56-47. Again Wentz sparked the comeback with a three, followed by baskets from senior guard Robert Grace IV (Minneapolis, Minn./The Blake School) and junior forward Noah Shannon (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) that brought Macalester to within two, 56-54 four minutes into the half. Midway through the half, Bethel restored its lead back to nine, only to have the Scots answer again. Wentz, Grace and junior forward Ryan Brush (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue) each made baskets, and senior guard Tom Andreae (Newton, Mass./Newton North) converted a conventional three-point play in a 9-0 run that tied the score at 70-70 with 9:43 to play.

Later in the half, the Royals went on an 8-2 run to take its largest lead of the game, 90-78 with four minutes left. After Brush drained a three and Wentz made two free throws, a three-pointer by Emmanuel Schmitter gave Bethel a 93-83 edge with 2:30 remaining. Two more Wentz free throws and a three-point play by Shannon made it a five-point game, 93-88 before Payton Thomsen scored to put the Royals on top, 95-88 with 1:16 to play. Holdbrook was fouled at the one-minute mark and made the first free throw. He missed the second but the Scots grabbed the offensive rebound, eventually getting a layup by Wentz to cut the deficit to four, 95-91 with 28 seconds left.

Macalester fouled on Bethel's next possession and it paid off, as Nick Burke missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Grace grabbed the rebound, raced down the court and scored to make the score 95-93 with 18 seconds left. Again Bethel was fouled and again the Royals missed their free throws, giving the Scots one more chance with eight seconds on the clock. Wentz rebounded and dribbled into the front court, where he lost the handle. Holdbrook picked up the ball and took a shot from the top of the key the bounced off the rim and out as the buzzer sounded, ending the comeback attempt and the game.

Bethel scorched the nets at a rate of 60.3 percent for the game and made 14-of-26 (53.8 percent) from three-point range. The Scots kept it close by outscoring the hosts in the paint 58-38, holding a 41-30 advantage on the glass and scoring 22 second chance points on 20 offensive rebounds.

Wentz led Macalester with a game-high 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting to go with a team-best 11 rebounds. Shannon finished with 19 points and eight boards. Grace had his best game as a Scot with 13 points, six assists and two steals without a turnover in 20 minutes off the bench. Brush and Holdbrook made it five players in double figures for Macalester with 10 points each. Thomsen led Bethel with 25 points.

The Scots return to action on Saturday, Jan. 18 with a home game against Saint Mary's University. The MIAC contest starts at 1:00 p.m. in the Leonard Center.