ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College men's basketball team ran into a fast-closing Gustavus Adolphus squad that scored 60 points in the second half to beat the Scots, 96-86 Wednesday night in the Leonard Center. The MIAC loss drops Macalester to 5-4 overall and 2-3 in the conference, while the Gusties improve to 6-3, 5-0 MIAC.

In the first half the Scots took an early 14-6 lead over the first 5:36, with first year guard Kaden Holdbrook (Palo Alto, Calif./Gunn) making two three-pointers and junior guard Coby Gold (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver) and sophomore guard Eric Wentz (Minot, N.D./Minot) also contributing threes. Gustavus was able to cut it to one, 29-28 with 6:21 left in the half before Macalester reeled off an 18-7 spree to lead, 47-35 with 1:09 on the clock. Sophomore forward Ryan Brush (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue) drained three three-pointers, Wentz hit another and Gold added four points in the run. With time winding down in the half, a free throw by Ashton Dingmann made the score 47-36 Scots at the break. Macalester shot 59.4 percent from the field, including 9-of-16 from beyond the arc, in the first half.

Sophomore forward Noah Shannon (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) helped the Scots get off to a good start in the second half, scoring his team's first seven points to push the lead to 15, 54-39 with 18:28 remaining. At that point the Gusties began their comeback, using a 25-10 run to tie the score at 64-64 midway through the second half. Gold answered with a three-pointer and a free throw for a four-point play and a 68-64 edge. Back-to-back threes by Brady Kienitz and Spencer Swanson gave Gustavus its first lead of the game, only to have Shannon convert a conventional three-point play for a 75-72 Scots lead with 6:16 to play. The lead exchanged hands five times in the next three minutes, with the Gusties using six straight points to turn a one-point deficit into a five-point advantage, 85-80 with 2:41 remaining. Junior guard Caleb Williams (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose) responded with a three-pointer, but Gustavus closed out the game with an 11-3 run to win, 96-86.

The Gusties shot a blistering 74.1 percent (20-of-27) from the field in the second half and made 6-of-9 from three-point range in the comeback. Macalester made seven threes but committed eight turnovers after halftime.

Shannon matched his career high with 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field to lead the Scots. Williams was 7-of-11 from the floor and finished with 17 points to go with six rebounds and four assists. Gold tallied 14 points and seven assists, while Holdbrook and Wentz each contributed 11 points. Wentz grabbed a team-leading seven rebounds. Swanson led all players with 28 points and eight rebounds for Gustavus.

The Scots close out 2023 with a road game at MIAC foe Saint John's on Saturday, Dec. 9. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. in Collegeville, Minn.