ST. PAUL, Minn. – In its final non-conference game of the season, the Macalester College men's basketball team lost a tight contest with visiting Crown College, 68-65 Wednesday evening in the Leonard Center. The Scots enter their MIAC schedule with a record of 3-2, while the Storm improves to 3-2.

Macalester started well, building a 21-14 lead with first year guard Robert Grace IV (Minneapolis, Minn./The Blake School) recording four points and four assists over the first 9:17 of the game. Crown responded with a 14-2 run to take a 28-23 lead with 5:14 left in the half. A basket by first year guard Coby Gold (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver) and a three-pointer from sophomore guard Caleb Williams (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose) knotted the score at 28-28, but the Storm reeled off an 11-2 run to end the half with a commanding 39-30 lead.

Momentum stayed with Crown early in the second half, as the Storm pushed the lead to 46-36 over the first four minutes. This time the Scots replied with 12 straight points to launch a 17-2 run, including a three from sophomore guard Tom Andreae (Newton, Mass./Newton North) and 10 points from Williams to regain the upper hand, 53-48 midway through the second half. The lead changed hands three times, with Crown eventually taking a 63-58 edge with 1:54 to play. A three-pointer and a basket by Williams tied the score at 63-63 with one minute remaining.

Following Williams' basket, the Storm scored a pair of baskets around a three-point miss by the Scots to lead, 67-63 with 27 seconds left. Andreae drained a pair of free throws to make it a two-point game before Micah Ladd made 1-of-2 from the line with under three seconds to play. A couple of long passes found Gold just over midcourt, but his shot from deep was off the mark, giving Crown the win.

Macalester shot a season-low 40.3 percent from the field, including 25.9 percent (7-of-27) from three-point range. The Scots also gave up 13 offensive rebounds which turned into 12 second-chance points for the Storm. Williams led Macalester with 25 points to go with six rebounds. Senior center Shane Anderson (Fargo, N.D./Davies) tallied 12 points and five boards, while Gold finished with 11 points, three assists and a team-best seven rebounds. Cade Carroll led Crown with 23 points and 12 boards.

The Scots begin MIAC play on Saturday, Nov. 20 at home against Saint Mary's University. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m. in the Leonard Center.