It came down to the last 4/10 of a second. That was the time remaining when Austin Johnson snared the rebound of a missed free throw and the Hamline University men's basketball team could finally take a deep breath. Their 76-75 win over Bethel was as tight a finish as one could imagine.

It looked like Hamline's game most of the way. The Pipers played solid defense in the first half, limiting the potent Royals to just 29.6 per cent from the field. Meanwhile, Bennett Cooper led the way, scoring eight of the first nine HU points en route to a 33-25 intermission edge.

The Pipers jumped fast at the start of the second half and kept the lead all the way but there were a few hairy moments along the way.

HU pushed ahead by as many 13 points only to see the Royals charge back quickly. The lead was just 47-46 when Dylan See-Rockers and TC Robinson (42) unloaded a three-pointer to make it a six-point game at 52-46. Later, Robinson would hit another trey to make it 72-62 with 4:03 to go. The Royals, however, weren't going away. Robinson hit three free throws to off set some BU sharpshooting and the lead was 75-68 with 39 seconds left.

Bridgeport Tusler connected twice to shave the margin to 75-72 with 22 seconds left. Two BU free throws made it a one-point game. Johnson then hit a free throw that would prove to be the winning point with nine seconds remaining. BU got a last chance when Kyle Zimmerman was fouled in a scramble with .4 on the clock. Zimmerman made the first toss but missed the second. Johnson grabbed the rebound and refused to let go, ending the game.

Ford passed the 1,300 mark for career points with a team high 19. Robinson hit three long ones for 14 points. Cooper's early burst helped him to 13 and Quinton Garvis, who also hit three 3-pointers, added 11. Johnson finished with nine but had a game high 10 rebounds -- the last of which was the most important play of the evening. The Pipers improved to 8-11 overall and 5-9 in the MIAC. They have a couple of days to digest this one before starting a stretch that sees them play three games in five days. It kicks off Saturday at Macalester (3 p.m.). St. John's is at Hutton next Monday. On Wednesday, HU is at Carleton. The latter two games both start at 7 p.m.