ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College men's basketball team fell to Saint Mary's University in the first MIAC game of the season, 63-61, Saturday afternoon in the Leonard Center. The Scots are now 3-3 on the season overall, while the Cardinals move to 1-1.

It felt like Macalester was playing catch-up all day, as Saint Mary's opened the game by making its first eight shots from the field, including a pair of threes, to take an 18-7 lead six minutes after the opening tip. The Cardinals grew their lead to as many as 15 points before the Scots used an 11-3 run, capped by a three-pointer by sophomore guard Caleb Williams (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose), to make it a seven-point deficit, 30-23 with four minutes left in the half. The Cardinals answered by scoring six of the final eight points of the half to lead, 36-26 at the break. Macalester shot 32.3 percent from the field in the first half compared to 50.0 percent for Saint Mary's.

In the second half, the Cardinals maintained the upper hand for most of the half, leading by as many as 14, 57-43 with 9:29 to play. But the Scots mounted a comeback, getting three-pointers from first year guard Coby Gold (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver), junior guard Ahad Anjum (Karachi, Pakistan/American School of Dubai) and sophomore guard Tom Andreae (Newton, Mass./Newton North) in a 13-2 spree that made it a one-possession game, 59-56 with 2:31 on the clock.

After two Saint Mary's free throws and a basket by Gold, the Cardinals missed the front end of a 1-and-1 at the line, but Caden Freetly grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled with 10 seconds left. Freetly hit both free throws, then senior guard Lucas Leiter (Inver grove Heights, Minn./Eagan) drained a three with four seconds remaining. The Cardinals missed two free throws with 2.8 seconds on the clock but were able to grab another offensive rebound on the second miss to close out the win.

Although the shooting improved slightly in the second half, the Scots ended up making a season-low 34.3 percent from the floor for the game, including 9-of-37 (24.3 percent) from three-point range. Williams tallied his first collegiate double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while senior center Shane Anderson (Fargo, N.D./Davies) registered 11 points, five boards and three assists. Gold finished with 10 points, and first year guard Robert Grace IV (Minneapolis, Minn./The Blake School) added seven points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists. Noah Frechette scored 14 points to lead the Cardinals.

Macalester continues MIAC play with a road game at Concordia on Tuesday, Nov. 23. Game time is set for 7:15 p.m. in Moorhead, Minn.