Macalester vs. St. Mary's stats & play-by-play
Abe Woldeslassie (Sr., Richfield, Minn. / St. Thomas Academy) scored the game-winning basket on a driving layup to the basket with just 1.6 seconds left, breaking a tie and giving Macalester an exciting 72-70 win over St. Mary's in the first of 10 games the Scots will play in their new temporary home – the College of St. Catherine Butler Center.
Mac is now 3-3 on the year and 2-0 in the MIAC. St. Mary's drops to 0-6 overall, 0-3 in the MIAC.
Tom Conboy (Sr., Chanhassen, Minn. / Minnetonka) scored 29 points and grabbed nine rebounds to pace Macalester. Brian Ranwick (Sr., Plymouth, Minn. / Minnetonka) added 18 points and Woldeslassie finished with 14 points and five assists.
This was Conboy's fifth 20-point effort in six games this season and the two-time All-MIAC selection is averaging 25.7 points and 10.3 rebounds on the year. He now has 33 career games with at least 20 points and has 26 double-doubles. Conboy has started all 82 Mac games over the past four seasons and has reached double figures in scoring in all but four.
The Scots struggled to win this one and trailed almost the entire first half. They fell behind 30-13 at the 8:24 mark before fighting back to get within four points at the break at 40-36. St. Mary's maintained its lead until a Woldeslassie three-pointer put Mac on top 54-52 with 12:33 to play. The game was tight from then on, with SMU leading by a point following a three at :55. A Conboy free throw tied things up at 70-70 and following a Cardinal turnover with :22 to play, the Scots set up for Woldeslassie's game-winning one-on-one move just before the buzzer.
Will Wright came off the bench to pace St. Mary's with 21 points. Dan Cormier added 15 points and 13 rebounds. Lukas Holland scored 12 points.
Macalester out-scored St. Mary's 24-9 in points-off-turnovers, thanks largely to a 19-8 turnover advantage. After going just 3-for-12 from the line in the first half, Mac was 8-for-9 in the second half.
The Scots are one of three unbeaten MIAC teams remaining, along with Carleton and St. Thomas , and will host the UST Tommies at Butler Center Wednesday (Dec. 5) at 7:45 p.m.
