ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College men's basketball team earned a decisive MIAC victory over Gustavus, 78-55 Saturday afternoon in the Leonard Center. The Scots led for all but the first minute of the game to improve to 14-7 overall and 10-6 in the conference. The Gusties fall to 9-13, 9-8 MIAC.

The win also marks the first time Macalester has won 10 MIAC games since the 2004-05 team went 10-10.

After surrendering the first basket of the game 15 seconds after the opening tip, the Scots reeled off 13 straight points to take an early 13-2 lead. Junior guard Caleb Williams (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose) hit a pair of threes and sophomore forward Badou Ba (Dakar, Senegal/Williston Northampton) scored four points in the run. The lead was eight, 20-12 with 7:39 on the clock when Macalester closed out the half with a 15-5 run to take a 35-17 advantage at the break. Junior guard Tom Andreae (Newton, Mass./Newton North) and sophomore guard Coby Gold (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver) made threes and Ba registered a conventional three-point play down the stretch. Macalester held Gustavus to just seven field goals on 27 shots (25.9 percent) in the first half.

The first of four second-half three-pointers for first year guard Eric Wentz (Minot, N.D./Minot), as well as threes from first year forward Noah Shannon (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) and sophomore guard Marcus Crawford (Edina, Minn./Edina) helped the Scots open the half with a 17-11 run that made the score 52-28 with 12 minutes left. The Gusties came within 16 points four times in the final five minutes of the game, including 71-55 with 3:12 remaining. But a dunk from Shannon, a three by Wentz and a jumper by Williams closed out the scoring and clinched a 78-55 win for Macalester.

The Scots made 9-of-15 (60.0 percent) from three-point range in the second half, with Wentz hitting four of his five attempts from beyond the arc to finish with 16 points. He also made all four of his free throw attempts and delivered three assists. Williams led Macalester with 22 points to go with five rebounds and four assists, while Gold contributed 12 points on four threes, four assists and two steals. Ba tallied 12 rebounds and three blocks to go with seven points, while sophomore guard Robert Grace IV (Minneapolis, Minn./The Blake School) recorded six points, four assists and two steals. Evan Wieker scored 13 points to lead Gustavus.

The Scots continue conference play with a home game against St. Olaf on Wednesday, Feb. 8. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in the Leonard Center.