ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – Trailing by as many as 11 points in the first half, the Macalester College men's basketball team battled back to defeat Bethel University, 88-65 in a MIAC game Saturday afternoon at the Robertson Center. The win comes in the final game of 2022 for the Scots, who are now 7-2 overall and 4-1 in the conference. The Royals fall to 2-7, 1-5 MIAC.
The victory also is the first for the Scots at Bethel since Jan. 24, 2004.
Early in the first half, the Royals used a 9-0 run to build an 18-8 lead with 14:18 on the clock. Macalester cut the deficit to six points twice before Bethel pushed the lead back up to 11, 29-18 midway through the first half. A three-pointer by sophomore guard
Coby Gold (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver) started a 17-0 spree for the Scots that results in a 35-29 lead with just under four minutes left in the half. Gold hit two three-pointers in the run, with junior guards
Caleb Williams (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose) and
Tom Andreae (Newton, Mass./Newton North) also making threes. Gold made another from deep to help Macalester close out the half with a 48-38 advantage heading into the break. The Scots ended up shooting 58.1 percent from the field, including 10-of-18 from three-point range, in the first half.
Macalester stayed in control into the second half, with Gold's fifth three of the game capping a 9-0 run that put the Scots on top, 62-42 with 13:50 remaining. Bethel could get no closer than 16 points the rest of the way, as the Scots held the Royals to 38.5 percent shooting from the field in the second half to cruise to victory.
Gold finished with 19 points while making 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. He also grabbed a team-best nine rebounds and had six assists and three steals. Williams contributed 18 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Andreae tallied career highs of 11 points and six assists to go with five boards. Sophomore guard
Marcus Crawford (Edina, Minn./Edina) also achieved a career high with 10 points in the win. Bethel's Payton Thomsen led all players with 31 points.
Macalester doesn't return to action until Jan. 4, when they face St. Olaf on the road.
