ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College men's basketball team earned its first victory on the road this season, edging Saint Mary's University, 77-76 Tuesday night in the Saint Mary's Fieldhouse. The Scots remain unbeaten at 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the conference. The Cardinals fall to 1-3, 0-2 MIAC.
Macalester trailed for most of the first half, with Saint Mary's building a 25-17 lead with 7:32 on the clock. First year forward
Noah Shannon (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) hit a three-pointer to spark a 10-0 run for a 27-25 lead, with Shannon scoring seven points and junior guard
Caleb Williams (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose) adding a three-pointer. After the teams exchanged baskets, sophomore guard
Coby Gold (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver) grabbed an offensive rebound and scored for a 31-28 advantage. With time winding down, Cameron Mallory made a three-pointer to make the halftime score 31-31. The Cardinals shot 52.0 percent from the field compared to 41.4 percent for the Scots in the first half.
Sophomore forward
Badou Ba (Dakar, Senegal/Williston Northampton) opened the second half with a conventional three-point play and Gold drained a three to put Macalester on top, 39-33 with 16:19 remaining. Saint Mary's cut the deficit to two before Shannon scored five points in an 8-0 run that gave the Scots a 49-39 lead with 12 minutes to play. The Cardinals were able to pull to within four points three times, only to have Gold hit a pair of threes and two free throws to ignite a 13-3 spree that made the score 71-57 Macalester with just under three minutes to play.
Down by 14, Saint Mary's did not concede, responding with 10 straight points to again make it a four-point game, 71-67 with 1:39 left. A layup by Ba and a free throw from Williams pushed the lead up to seven, 74-67 with 41 seconds to play. Raheem Anthony made two free throws and a basket sandwiched around a free throw by sophomore guard
Robert Grace IV (Minneapolis, Minn./The Blake School), then Anthony converted a conventional three-point play followed by another free throw from Grace to make the score 76-74 Scots with 13 seconds left. Williams was fouled and he made the first free throw but missed the second. With time winding down and the Cardinals needing a three-pointer to tie, Anthony made a driving layup with one second left. Macalester inbounded the ball and the game ended, with the Scots escaping with a 77-76 victory.
Shannon was 6-of-9 from the field and scored a career-high 17 points to lead Macalester. Gold finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and two steals, while Williams added 15 points. Ba made it four Scots in double figures with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting to go with eight rebounds and three blocks. Macalester shot 51.7 percent from the floor in the second half and 46.6 percent for the game compared to 54.5 percent for the Cardinals, who were led by Anthony with 22 points.
Macalester returns to action next Wednesday, Nov. 30 with a non-conference game at Crown College. The game starts at 7:30 p.m. in St. Bonifacius, Minn.
