ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College men's basketball team closed out the regular season with a 78-75 loss at Augsburg University in a MIAC game Saturday afternoon at Si Melby Hall. The Scots will head to the MIAC Playoffs with a 15-10 record overall, including an 11-9 mark in conference play. The Auggies end their season at 8-17, 6-14 MIAC.

Macalester opened the game with back-to-back threes from junior guards Tom Andreae (Newton, Mass./Newton North) and Caleb Williams (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose) for a 6-0 lead. Augsburg responded with a 21-5 run to take control of the game, 21-11 with 11:23 left in the half. The Scots came within six point four times, but the Auggies pushed the lead up to 15, 46-31 with 1:47 on the clock. Andreae hit a couple free throws and Williams scored to make the halftime score 46-35 Augsburg.
 
Early in the second half, the Scots battled to keep pace with the Auggies, who led 66-54 with 11:22 to play. Back-to-back baskets by first year forward Noah Shannon (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) sparked an 8-0 run that made it a four-point game, 66-62 with eight minutes remaining. After Augsburg increased its lead to 72-64, Macalester tallied nine consecutive points, including four points from Williams, a three-pointer by sophomore guard Coby Gold (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver) and a dunk from sophomore forward Badou Ba (Dakar, Senegal/Williston Northampton), to give the Scots their first lead since early in the first half, 73-72 with 3:31 left.

Free throws by Conner Knoepfle and a three from Bradley Winter sandwiched around a Scots turnover put Augsburg on top, 77-73 with 1:38 remaining. Williams made two free throws, then a steal by Andreae gave Macalester the ball trailing 77-75 with 22 seconds on the clock. The Scots ran the clock down but missed a three-point attempt. Knoepfle went 1-of-2 from the line, but a long Macalester pass was intercepted, and Augsburg earned the split with the Scots in the season series.

After shooting 43.8 percent from the field in the first half, Macalester made 55.6 percent from the floor in the second half. Augsburg made 11 threes and held a 42-30 rebounding advantage. Ba led all players with a career-high 20 points to go with six rebounds. Williams finished with 18 points and seven boards. Andreae tallied a career-high 13 points and had three assists, while Gold also scored 13 points. Shannon paced the Scots on the glass with eight rebounds and registered 11 points and three assists. Colin Meade scored 18 points for the Auggies.

Macalester is the No. 4 seed in the MIAC Playoffs and will host No. 5 St. Olaf on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 7:00 p.m. in the Leonard Center. Click here for ticket information.