MOORHEAD, Minn. – Junior guard Caleb Williams (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose) scored a school-record 51 points as the Macalester College men's basketball team earned a hard-fought victory at Concordia College, 92-88 in a MIAC contest Wednesday night at Memorial Coliseum. The Scots improve to 9-9 overall and 5-8 in the conference, while the Cobbers fall to 10-7, 6-6 MIAC.

Macalester took an early lead by scoring eight straight points, including five points from Williams, to take a 20-12 edge seven minutes after tip-off. Later in the half, Concordia reduced the deficit to six before the Scots used a 15-7 run to lead, 55-41 with two minutes left in the half. Sophomore guard Eric Wentz (Minot, N.D./Minot) scored seven points and Williams had six points in the run. The Cobbers tallied the final four points of the half to make the halftime score 55-45 Macalester. The Scots shot a blistering 68.8 percent from the field, including 13-of-16 by Williams, who registered 32 points in the first half alone.

In the second half, the lead was eight, 62-54 with 16:20 on the clock when Concordia used a 12-3 run to lead for the first time since early in the first half, 66-65 at the 11:20 mark. The lead changed hands eight times before the Cobbers tallied back-to-back baskets for a 77-74 advantage with 6:31 remaining. The lead grew to as many as four before free throws by first year forward Simon Weisserman (Chicago, Ill./Lake Forest Academy) and Williams, plus a three by Williams, gave the Scots the upper hand, 86-83 with 1:20 left. After a block by Weisserman gave Macalester the ball, Williams was fouled and made 1-of-2 from the line for his 51st point of the game. Wentz made 3-of-4 from the charity stripe and junior guard Tom Andreae (Newton, Mass./Newton North) also hit a pair of free throws down the stretch to clinch the win for the Scots.

Williams made 20-of-28 from the field, including 3-of-9 from three-point range and 8-of-11 from the line, en route to 51 points. The total is the most in a MIAC game in program history and the second most points in a MIAC game behind only a 52-point performance by Augsburg's Devean George versus Carleton in 1999. Hamline's Bradley Cimperman scored 51 points last year against Gustavus.

Wentz recorded 16 points on 4-of-6 shooting and grabbed four rebounds, while junior guard Coby Gold (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver) had 10 points, five rebounds and four assists in the win. Jacob Cook scored 17 points to lead Concordia. The Scots shot 57.9 percent from the field for the game compared to 53.3 percent for the Cobbers, and scored 17 points off 10 Concordia turnovers.

Macalester returns home to host Saint John's University in a MIAC game on Saturday, Jan. 27. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m. in the Leonard Center.