ST. PAUL, Minn. – Sophomore guard Michael Gutierrez (Stillwater, Minn./St. Croix Prep Academy) scored a career-high 40 points as the Macalester College men's basketball team fell to MIAC foe Hamline, 92-83 Saturday afternoon in the Leonard Center. The loss drops the Scots to 4-9 overall and 0-8 in conference play, while the Pipers improve to 9-4, 6-2 MIAC.

The lead changed hands 13 times in this exciting and competitive match-up. Macalester tallied the first seven points of the game in building a 21-9 advantage midway through the first half. The lead was still 10, 28-18 when Hamline used a 15-3 run to gain the upper hand, 33-31 with 3:15 on the clock. A three by senior guard Dylan Kilgour (La Crescenta, Calif./Crescenta Valley) ended the run, but a late basket by Isaac Brooks allowed the Pipers to take a 37-36 lead into halftime. The Scots shot 50.0 percent from the floor and made five of their 12 three-point attempts in the first half.

The game went back and forth in the second half, with eight lead changes in the first 10 minutes. Three consecutive three-pointers from Gutierrez and a conventional three-point play by senior guard Jordan Black-Mathews (Dallas, Texas/Covenant Christian) sparked a 12-4 run that put Macalester on top, 56-51 with 13:06 to play. With the Scots up 60-55, Hamline reeled off a 10-3 spree that included threes from TC Robinson and Jay Betts that gave the Pipers a 65-63 edge with 9:55 remaining.

Later in the half, three-pointers by Robinson and Zach Smith helped to push the Piper lead to 78-67, as the visitors began to pull away. Back-to-Back threes by Gutierrez and sophomore guard Carl Salvino (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt) eventually made it a five-point game, 78-73 with 3:22 to play. But the Scots were unable to get any closer, as Hamline wrapped up the win. The Pipers drained 7-of-9 from three-point range in the second half while shooting 61.5 percent from the floor overall and 88.9 percent from the line after halftime.

Gutierrez poured in 29 of his 40 points after halftime and finished the game 8-of-12 from beyond the arc. He also made all 12 of his attempts from the charity stripe and added a team-best eight rebounds and three assists. Kilgour ended up with 11 points, while Salvino tallied season-highs of 10 points and seven boards. Smith scored 21 of his 24 points in the second half, with TC Robinson adding 19 points.

The Scots return to action on Monday, Jan. 16 with a conference game at Concordia. The game begins at 7:00 p.m. in Moorhead, Minn.