ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College men's basketball team defeated Saint Mary's University, 81-80 on Senior Day Saturday afternoon in the Leonard Center. The Scots improve to 3-20 overall and 2-16 in the conference, while the Cardinals drop to 1-22, 0-18 MIAC.

Senior guard Brett Olson (New London, Minn./New London-Spicer), who was honored before the game along with injured senior guard Gunnar Goeden (Appleton, Wis./Appleton North), tallied 17 points in the victory.

The game was close throughout, with nine ties and 22 lead changes. Midway through the second half, Macalester used a 13-2 run to take a 29-17 lead with 9:11 on the clock. Juniors Mike Babb (St. Louis, Mo./St. John Vianney) and Tyler Seaberg (Chattanooga, Tenn./Baylor School) had five and four points, respectively in the run. But 12 straight points by Saint Mary's knotted the score at 33-33 with just under four minutes left in the half.

A three by Olson helped the Scots take a five-point lead, only to have the Cardinals go on a 10-2 run to lead 45-42. After a pair of free throws from first year forward Jackson Henningfield (Lake Mary, Fla./Lyman) and a Saint Mary's missed shot, Olson beat the buzzer with a baseline jumper to give Macalester a 46-45 lead at the break.

A basket by Henningfield and a three from sophomore forward Ian Joseph (Alpharetta, Ga./Johns Creek) to start the second half put the Scots ahead, 51-45. SMU tallied the next seven points to regain the lead, 52-51 with 16:07 remaining. From that point, the lead changed hands 14 times over the next 11-plus minutes, with neither team leading by more than three points. A jumper from Kareem Anthony-Bello and two free throws by Brandon Retzlaff gave Saint Mary's its largest lead of the game, 76-72 with 3:08 to play. Joseph and Henningfield answered with back-to-back baskets, then Olson followed a Sawyer Rosner layup with a three to give Macalester a 79-78 edge with 1:55 remaining.

A pair of Anthony-Bello free throws with 1:43 on the clock tipped the scales in Saint Mary's favor, 80-79. After two empty possessions by both teams, Joseph hit a layup with 38 seconds left to put the Scots on top, 81-80. A missed three-pointer gave the ball back to Macalester, but the Scots missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Another missed three by Saint Mary's was grabbed by Joseph, but he came up empty at the line. With 2.3 seconds left, a desperation three by the Cardinals was off the mark, and the Scots held on to complete the season sweep.

Macalester out-rebounded Saint Mary's, 47-33 while scoring 20 points off 17 Cardinals' turnovers. Olson hit 3-of-7 from three-point range and added five rebounds and five assists. Henningfield also scored 17 points and had a team-best eight rebounds. Seaberg registered career highs of 10 points and seven rebounds, while junior guard Daniel Neff (Costa Mesa, Calif./Marina) also had a career-best performance with 10 points. Anthony-Bello paced SMU with 20 points.

Macalester hosts Bethel on Wednesday, Feb. 14 in the final home game of the season. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. in the Leonard Center.