Macalester vs. St. John's statistics

In their final game before taking a three-week break for the holidays, the Macalester Scots were defeated by visiting St. John's 69-44 Wednesday night at the Leonard Center. The Johnnies led 45-39 with 10:47 left in the second half in what had been a closely-played game to that point, and then out-scored the hosts 24-5 the rest of the way to seal the victory.

St. John's gets its fourth win in a row and improves to 4-3 overall and a perfect 3-0 in the MIAC. Macalester is now 0-8 on the year and 0-4 in MIAC competition.

The Johnnies went 8-for-17 on three pointers, compared to 2-for-21 for the Scots. St. John's shot 52% for the game (27-for-52), compared to 26% for Macalester (16-for-61).  Mac had a 25-12 advantage in points off turnovers and 13-2 lead in second chance points, but could not overcome SJU's shooting advantage.

Kyle Hamblett (So., Paris, France / American School of Paris) scored 13 points to pace Macalester. Colin Keeley (So., Kildeer, Ill. / Stevenson) scored 10 points and pulled down nine rebounds, and James Murrey (Jr., Western Springs, Ill. / Lyon Township) added eight points. Hamblett and Keeley picked up four steals apiece to help the Scots to a 21-15 turnover advantage.

Point guard Andy Burns had 15 points, seven assists and five steals to lead St. John's. Aaron Burtzel posted a double-double for the Johnnies, finishing with 10 points and 10 boards to go along with three blocked shots and three steals. Todd Herman finished with 14 points.

The Scots return to competition Dec. 29 at Wisconsin-River Falls.