ARDEN HILLS, Minn. -The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team entered Monday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game looking to do something Bethel's previous 14 opponents could not do-win on the Royals' home court.

And for the game's opening 20 minutes, the Cardinals were on pace to do just that.

Bethel, however, had other ideas, as the Royals held off the never-say-die Cardinals down the stretch in making Saint Mary's home victim No. 15, 79-70.

The Royals had the upper hand early, building leads as big as 11 points, 22-11 with 11 minutes remaining in the game's first

Over those final 11 minutes, the Cardinals took command, using a 28-16 run-capped by a Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) layup-to grab a 39-38 lead with 39 seconds on the clock.

The Royals regained the lead on a Brycen Wojta 3-pointer in the waning seconds to give Bethel a two-point, 41-39 advantage at the break.

And Bethel picked up where they left off to open the second half, building their lead to 12, 58-46, with 13:09 remaining. A pair of free throws by Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.), a 3-pointer by Braden Walbeck (Fall Creek, Wis.), and a basket by Quashingm Smith-Pugh (St. Paul, Minn.) helped cut the Royals' lead to five, 60-55 midway through the half.

That, however, would be as close as the Cardinals would get, as Jackson Canfield drilled a 3-pointer to cap a 13-4 BU run that pushed the Royals' lead to a game-high 14 points, 73-59 with 4:30 remaining.

Aaron Romportl (Stillwater, Minn.) and Swiggum completed back-to-back three-point plays to whittle the lead down to eight, 75-67, but Bethel scored four of the game's final seven points to ice the win-and push their home winning streak to 15.

Swiggum led the way for the Cardinals, scoring a season-high 21 points on 8 of 13 shooting, including one 3-pointer, while going a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Smith-Pugh and Romportl also finished in double figures with 13 and 11 points, respectively, while Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) hauled in a team-best 11 rebounds to go with his eight points.

Saint Mary's shot 48 percent from the field (27-for-56) and drained seven 3-pointers, while adding a 9 of 10 performance from the free throw line.

Bridgeport Tusler scored 19 points to lead four Bethel players in double figures. Kyle von Schmidt-Pauli chipped in 11 points, and Wojta and Tim Hanson each tallied 10 points for the Royals, who went 30-for-70 from the field with nine 3-pointers.

The Cardinals (2-5 MIAC, 4-7 overall) are right back in action on Wednesday, returning home after three straight road games to host Concordia in a 5:45 p.m. conference game at the Saint Mary's Gym.