ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College men's basketball team struggled offensively in the second half and lost to Saint John's University, 75-50 in a MIAC game Wednesday evening in the Leonard Center. The loss drops the Scots to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference, while the Johnnies improve to 6-2, 4-1 MIAC.
The game was a rematch of last year's championship game of the MIAC Playoffs, with Saint John's defeating Macalester, 75-71.
A slow start that saw the Scots turn the ball over on their first four possessions allowed the Johnnies to jump out to an 8-0 lead. Saint John's continued to control the game early, leading by as many as 15, 22-7 over the first 7:30 of the game. With the lead at 14, 29-15 with 10:27 on the clock, back-to-back baskets by sophomore forward
Badou Ba (Dakar, Senegal/Williston Northampton) sparked a 12-0 run for the Scots that made it a two-point game, 29-27 with seven minutes left in the half. The run included six points from Ba and three-pointers by sophomore guard
Coby Gold (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver) and first year guard
Eric Wentz (Minot, N.D./Minot). Saint John's finished the half on a 15-9 run to take a 44-36 lead into halftime. The Johnnies shot 65.5 percent from the field in the first half compared to 51.9 percent for Macalester, with both teams making four three-pointers.
Early in the second half, a three-pointer by first year forward
Noah Shannon (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) brought the Scots to within five, 48-43 with 17:16 to play. With the lead still six following a conventional three-point play from Wentz at the 12:34 mark, Saint John's reeled off 17 straight points, including 11 from Mitchell Plombon, for an insurmountable 69-46 advantage with 4:21 remaining. Macalester missed 11 field goal attempts and four free throws while turning the ball over three times in the game-changing run. The Scots shot just 24.0 percent from the field and scored 14 points in the second half, as Saint John's closed out the win.
Wentz was 7-of-11 from the field and 2-of-2 from beyond the arc en route to a career-high 17 points. Ba finished with 10 points, six rebounds and three blocks, while junior guard
Caleb Williams (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose) registered nine points, five boards and two steals. Plombon led all players with 27 points and nine rebounds for Saint John's.
Macalester plays its final game of 2022 on Saturday, Dec. 10 at Bethel. The MIAC game starts at 1:00 p.m. in Arden Hills, Minn.
