ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College men's basketball team held off the College of St. Scholastica, 84-76 in a MIAC game Saturday afternoon in the Leonard Center. The Scots end a three-game losing streak to improve to 8-9 overall and 4-8 in conference play, while the Saints drop to 2-15, 1-11 MIAC.
With St. Scholastica leading 15-11 early in the first half, Macalester used three-pointers by first year guard
Kaden Holdbrook (Palo Alto, Calif./Gunn), junior guard
Coby Gold (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver) and sophomore guard
Eric Wentz (Minot, N.D./Minot) to take a 20-15 advantage. The Saints pulled to within one, 25-24 with 5:46 left in the half before the Scots went on a 17-4 tear led by Gold with seven points and junior guard
Caleb Williams (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose) that put Macalester on top, 42-28. Six straight points before halftime allowed St. Scholastica to cut the halftime deficit to eight, 42-34 at the break. The Scots shot 50.0 percent from the field, including 9-of-18 from three-point range, in the first half while holding Saints to 32.3 percent shooting overall.
After a layup by Matho Ojullu out of the break brought the visitors to within six, five points from junior forward
Armando Akapo-Nwagbo (Owerri, Nigeria/Pomona) and a trey by Wentz sparked a 10-0 run that made the score 52-36 with 17 minutes remaining. Later in the half, the lead grew to 18 points after a three-pointer by Wentz put the Scots up, 61-43 with 12:44 to play. The Saints make a couple valiant comeback attempts, cutting the lead to six at the six-minute mark and coming within five points, 81-76 with under a minute left. But Gold hit a pair of free throws and Wentz added another, as Macalester kept St. Scholastica off the scoreboard the rest of the way.
The Scots ended up shooting 44.8 percent from the field for the game and made 12-of-34 from beyond the arc. Gold turned in an excellent all-round effort, tallying 25 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Williams recorded 17 points, five assists and five steals, while Wentz finished with 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting from deep. Koy Nelson led the Saints with 17 points.
Macalester continues MIAC play on Wednesday, Jan. 24 at Concordia College. The conference game is set to start at 7:15 p.m. in Moorhead, Minn.
