WINONA, Minn. – The Macalester College men's basketball team dropped a MIAC contest at Saint Mary's University, 83-56 Saturday afternoon at Saint Mary's Gymnasium. The defeat gives the Scots a 6-6 record overall and a 2-5 mark in conference play, while the Cardinals improve to 3-10, 2-8 MIAC.

In the first half, Saint Mary's used a 10-0 run to break a tie and take a 17-7 lead early in the game. The lead grew to 24-10 before three-pointers by sophomore forward Ryan Brush (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue) and first year guard Kaden Holdbrook (Palo Alto, Calif./Gunn) helped to bring Macalester to within six, 24-18 with 7:19 left in the half. The Cardinals were able to close out the first half on a 14-11 run to take a 38-29 advantage into the halftime break. Saint Mary's shot 45.2 percent from the field in the first half, including 5-of-10 from three-point range, compared to 35.5 percent for the Scots, who made 7-of-19 from beyond the arc before halftime.

The Cardinals maintained the upper hand into the second half, extending their lead to 56-36 with 12:15 to play. Seven points from junior guard Coby Gold (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver) helped Macalester cut the deficit to 15, 56-41 with 11:29 on the clock. But that's as close as the Scots would get, as Saint Mary's increased their advantage to as many as 25 points before securing an 83-56 victory. Macalester was held to just 29.0 percent shooting in the second half, while the Cardinals shot 52.9 percent after halftime.

Gold led the Scots with 17 points to go with three assists, while Holdbrook tallied 17 points and a team-best five assists. Junior forward Armando Akapo-Nwagbo (Owerri, Nigeria/Pomona) registered a team-high seven rebounds. Saint Mary's Cameron Mallory led all scorers with 27 points.

Macalester returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 10 with a MIAC home game against Carleton. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. in the Leonard Center.