ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College men's basketball team had 13 different players score at least three points in a 114-96 defeat to 24th-ranked Saint John's Wednesday evening in the Leonard Center. The Scots are now 1-5 overall and 0-3 in league play, while the Johnnies improve to 5-1, 2-0 MIAC.

Using 17 players and subbing five players at a time, Macalester employed a full-court press on defense and took quick shots on offense. The frenetic style kept the Scots in the game for most of the first half. Trailing 32-24 midway through the period, back-to-back threes from sophomore Nikhil Smith (Augusta, Ga./Lakeside) helped to bring Macalester to within one, 32-31. The Johnnies pushed their lead back to as many as 13 before the Scots closed out the half with a 12-7 run that made the halftime score 58-50 Saint John's. Macalester scored 16 points off of 10 Saint John's turnovers, but the Johnnies outscored the Scots, 28-2 in the paint.

At the start of the second half, Macalester came out firing again, getting threes from Smith, junior forward Wyatt Ferm (Farmington, Minn./Farmington) and sophomore Nathan Davies (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) to ignite an 11-3 run and tie the score at 61-61. But the Johnnies responded with a 23-6 spree to take a commanding 84-67 lead with 12:20 to play. The advantage grew to as many as 26 points before the Scots cut it to 15, 111-96 with two minutes left. That's as close as it would get down the stretch, as the Johnnies earned their second MIAC win of the season.

Macalester took 83 shots, including 53 from three-point range, and made a season-best 17 threes while grabbing 19 offensive rebounds. The Scots also shot 27-of-30 (90.0 percent) from the free throw line. Saint John's finished shooting 57.6 percent from the floor while holding a 48-39 advantage on the glass for the game.

Ferm led the Scots with 18 points, while senior guard Gunnar Goeden (Appleton, Wis./Appleton North) added 15 points and four steals. Smith finished with nine points, while sophomores Levon Keller-Chavez (Berkeley, Calif./Berkeley) and Rob Newman (Westchester, N.Y./Rye Country Day) each contributed eight points. Lucas Walford led all players with 25 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks, with Tyler Weiss scoring 20 points.

Macalester concludes a six-game home stand with a MIAC game against Carleton on Saturday, Dec. 9. The game starts at 1:00 p.m. in the Leonard Center.