ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. – The Macalester College men's basketball team nearly erased a 14-point deficit with 4:20 remaining before falling to Crown College, 64-61 on the road Wednesday night in the Crown Athletic Center. The non-conference loss is the first of the season for the Scots, who are now 5-1 overall. The Polars improve to 7-1.

Crown led from start to finish, building a 19-7 lead over the game's first five minutes. A pair of baskets by junior guard Caleb Williams (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose) sparked an 11-2 Macalester run that made the score 21-18 Polars midway through the half. After Crown responded with seven straight points, the Scots received baskets from Williams, junior guard Tom Andreae (Newton, Mass./Newton North) and sophomore forward Badou Ba (Dakar, Senegal/Williston Northampton) to make it a four-point game, 28-24 with 6:26 left in the half. The lead was still four points when Seth Royston hit a three-pointer and Micah Ladd made a basket to put the Polars ahead, 35-26 just before halftime. First year guard Eric Wentz (Minot, N.D./Minot) drained a three at the buzzer to make the score 35-29 Crown at the break.

With the Polars still leading by six early in the second half, the hosts reeled off a 10-0 run to build their biggest lead of the game, 51-35 with 11:25 to play. Williams brought Macalester back in the game with eight points in a 10-0 run to make it a six-point game again, 51-45 with seven minutes on the clock. But again Crown pulled away, outscoring the Scots 10-2 over the next 2:40 to lead, 61-47 with 4:20 remaining. Seven straight points helped Macalester cut the deficit to 61-54, but a basket by Alec Testerman put the Polars up by nine, 63-54 with 1:19 left to play.

The Scots did not give up, getting two free throws from sophomore guard Coby Gold (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver), a block by Ba on the defensive end and a conventional three-point play from Wentz to pull to within four, 63-59 with 47 seconds on the clock. Crown was fouled at the other end but missed a free throw, and Macalester came down and scored on a putback by Ba to make it a two-point game, 63-61 with 26 seconds left. After forcing a turnover, the Scots had a chance to tie but missed a shot and fouled Jacob Masek, who made 1-of-2 from the line. The miss gave Macalester another opportunity to tie the game down three with five seconds to play, but a missed three just before the buzzer ended the game in favor of the Polars.

The Scots made just 3-of-21 from three-point range, including 0-of-9 in the second half, while shooting a season-low 36.4 percent from the floor for the game. Crown shot 42.1 percent from the field for the game and made eight threes on the night. Williams finished with a team-leading 18 points to go with nine rebounds and two steals. Wentz tallied a career-high 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Ba grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds to go with 13 points for his second double-double of the season. Royston led the Polars with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Macalester returns to MIAC play with a conference game at Gustavus on Saturday, Dec. 3. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. in St. Peter, Minn.