ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester men's basketball team pulled out all the stops to clinch a 79-71 overtime victory against the Wartburg Knights in a non-conference matchup. The Scots improve to 2-0 on the season.
The Knights dropped in the first basket, and took a 17-7 lead six minutes into the half. However, first year guard
Eric Wentz (Minot, N.D./Minot) cut the lead in half, scoring five points to make the score 17-12 with 10:36 on the clock. The Scots continued to fight to close the gap. In the last 10 minutes of the half, Wentz tallied seven more points, including a three, while junior guard
Caleb Williams (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose) posted five points. Sophomore guard
Coby Gold (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver (Cushing Academy (Mass.))) sunk two threes, including one right at the end of the half to put the Scots within four, 36-32 at the break.
Macalester was fired up in the second half, and with a dunk from sophomore forward
Badou Ba (Dakar, Senegal/Williston Northampton (Mass.)) put the Scots within two, 40-38. Then, Williams became the spark for the comeback. Williams dropped two three-pointers to take the lead, 44-42 with 15:10 on the clock. Macalester maintained the lead for the next eight minutes. However, the Knights tied the game at 54 with 6:44 on the clock. Each team pushed for points and Williams tied the game for Macalester at 64-64 with 29 seconds on the clock. In the Knights' last attempt in regular time, first year forward
Noah Shannon (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) came up with a big block for the Scots, and the game went into overtime.
The Scots stepped out on the court for overtime and never looked back. Gold sank a three to go up 67-64. Williams was a catalyst for Macalester, scoring 10 points in overtime and driving the victory 79-71 for Scots.
The Scots registered a 43.8% from the field and scored 16 points off of turnovers. Williams totaled a career high 36 points this evening. Williams shot 16-for-31 from the paint and totaled nine rebounds. Gold tallied 17 points, tallying three three-pointers and Wentz knocked in 12 for Macalester. Ba led the team in rebounds with 11.
Macalester's next game will be Tuesday Nov. 15. The Scots will host North Central University (MN) in the Leonard Center at 7:00 p.m.
