MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Macalester College men's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season, losing at North Central University, 88-70 Saturday afternoon at the Clark-Danielson Center. The Scots, who won their first three games of the 2021-22 campaign, are now 3-1, while the Rams improve to 1-3.

North Central came out of the gate firing from distance, making six three-pointers over the first seven minutes of the game to take a 25-10 lead. Conversely, Macalester struggled to get the offense rolling, and the Rams took advantage. Their eighth three-pointer of the first half pushed the Rams' lead to 27, 46-19 with 4:32 on the clock. The Scots were able to use a 12-6 run, including six points from first year guard Robert Grace IV (Minneapolis, Minn./The Blake School), to make the halftime score 52-31 North Central.

In the second half the Scots shot the ball better from three-point range, making 3-of-7 from deep after going 0-of-8 in the first half. But the damage had been done, as Macalester came as close as 12, 67-55 with 9:16 to play before the Rams increased their lead back to as many as 21 down the stretch to close out the win. North Central hit 12-of-22 from beyond the arc and shot 53.1 percent from the floor for the game compared to 46.7 percent for the Scots.

Sophomore guard Caleb Williams (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose) had another strong game offensively, scoring 28 points on 11-of-21 shooting from the floor. Grace finished with 15 points, while first year guard Coby Gold (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver) scored 12 points and grabbed a team-best eight rebounds. Justin Castro led the Rams with 19 points.

Macalester hosts Crown College on Wednesday, Nov. 17 in the final non-conference game for the Scots. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. in the Leonard Center.