NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Senior guard
Tyler McFarland (Denver, Colo./New Hampton School) drained a three-pointer with four seconds left in overtime to give the Macalester College men's basketball team a 78-77 victory over St. Olaf Tuesday night in the Skoglund Center. With the win, the Scots tie the four-game series with the Oles to wrap up the 2021 season.
The win also marked the final game in the Orange and Blue for seniors McFarland,
Jackson Henningfield (Lake Mary, Fla./Lyman) and
Xander Schmidt (New York, N.Y./Trevor Day School).
Trailing by as many as 11 points in the second half, Macalester was down by three, 69-66 with 21 seconds remaining in regulation. Guard
Gabriel Ramos (Dorado, Puerto Rico/Tasis Dorado) was fouled and went to the free throw line, but he missed the first attempt. Needing three points to tie, Ramos intentionally missed the second free throw and McFarland grabbed the rebound. He found first year guard
Michael Poker (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield East) with a pass outside the three-point arc, and Poker buried a three with 0.7 seconds left to tie the score at 69-69.
In overtime, a three-pointer by Charlie Haff put St. Olaf on top, 77-73 with 1:03 on the clock. McFarland responded with a basket with 52 seconds left to make the score 77-75. He was fouled on the play but missed the free throw. After the Oles missed a three-pointer on their next possession, the Scots had the ball down two with 14 seconds left. McFarland received the ball from first year guard
Tom Andreae (Newton, Mass./Newton North) at the top of the key about four feet behind the three-point line and hit nothing but net with under five seconds to play.
Without a timeout, St. Olaf rushed down the court and put up a desperation shot that fell short, giving Macalester the victory.
In the first half, five points apiece from Ramos and junior guard
Lucas Leiter (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Eagan) helped the Scots open the game with a 16-5 lead over the first 7:34. The tide turned quickly, as St. Olaf battled back to take the lead while closing out the half with a 24-5 run for a 38-27 halftime advantage. Down 11 four minutes into the second half, Macalester reeled off a 16-5 spree, buoyed by threes from McFarland, Poker and junior guard
Eric Sathy (Cupertino, Calif./Homestead), to tie the score at 53-53 with 7:53 left. St. Olaf eventually took a four-point lead with two minutes remaining, setting up Poker's heroics and McFarland's overtime winner.
The two teams were evenly matched throughout the series, with both teams winning twice and Macalester holding a slight edge in points over the Oles, 264-260.
McFarland finished with a career-high 22 points to go with six rebounds and three assists. Henningfield ended up with 11 points, three boards and three assists, while Ramos added 11 points and six rebounds. As a team, Macalester shot 50.0 percent from three-point range (11-of-22) and swiped 11 steals, including four from Leiter and three by Andreae. Haff, Michael Meriggioli and Jake Weber each scored 15 points to lead St. Olaf.
Macalester will return 12 players from this year's roster in 2021-22.
box score
