Men's Basketball: Wartburg survives late Macalester rally.
 
St. Paul, MN – The Macalester Scots played host to the Wartburg Knights in a non-conference game Saturday afternoon. Wartburg held on for a 69-67 win, surviving a strong 2^nd half rally from Macalester.  Two late 3-point field goal attempts by Kaden Holdbrook and Eric Wentz, as the final horn sounded, both missed the mark and the Knights held on.
Robert Grace IV opened up the scoring with the Scots first 3 points on a free throw and a layup.  A Ryan Brush 3 point field goal gave the Scots a 6-3 lead.  Wartburg would score the next 8 points to take an 11-6 lead.  The first half would remain close as Brush layup would make it a 21-17 Wartburg lead with 10:23 remaining in the half.  The Scots would go cold from there and go almost 6 minutes without a point.  Marshun Williams would score 7 points in a 9-0 run that stretched the lead to 13 points at 30-17. A 3-point field goal by Williams gave Wartburg a 39-23 lead with 4:23 remaining.  Neither team would score for the remainder of the half and the Knights took the 16 point lead to the locker room.  Wartburg shot 50% from the field to the Scots 30% in the half.  Williams had 13 first half points.  Kaden Holdbrook led the Scots with 6 and JP Kerrigan had 5 for Macalester.
Eric Wentz scored the first 4 points of the 2^nd half to cut the deficit to 12 at 37-29.  Wartburg would score the next 5 points and take their largest lead of the game of 17 at 44-27.  The teams would trade baskets for the next 10 and a half minutes and with 7:27 remaining the Knights led by 16 points at 62-46.  That is when the Scots would mount their rally.  Kaden Holdbrook would hit two 3 pointers and Eric Wentz scored 7 points as the Scots crept closer.  Ryan Brush nailed a 3 with 2:02 remaining and the Scots trailed by just 3 at 66-63.  Noah Shannon's layup deficit to one point 66-65 with 1:14 remaining. Marshun Williams had a put back layup to bring the Knights lead to 3 with :43 remaining.  Shannon responded with a driving lay up to again make it a one point game.  Luke Ladwig made 1 of 2 free throws with 30 ticks left on the clock.  Down by 2, the Scots played for the last shot.  Kaden Holdbrook's 3-point attempt was off the back iron. JP Kerrigan gathered the offensive rebound for the Scots and kicked it out to Wentz, whose 3-point missed off the back rim and Wartburg escaped with the 2 point victory.
Kaden Holdbrook led the way for the Scots with 19 points and 5-11 from behind the arc. Eric Wentz contributed 16 points, including 14 in the second half.  Noah Shannon had 11 points and 9 rebounds, while JP Kerrigan and Ryan Brush each had 8 points, shooting a combined 4-5 from behind the 3-point line.  Marshun Williams had 20 points and 8 rebounds to lead the Knights. Richie Rosenblum and Gabe Trujillo each had 16 points.
Wartburg is 1-0 on the season.  Macalester drops to 0-2.  The Scots will host UW-River Fall Wednesday, November 13 at the Leonard Center at 7 p.m.