ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College men's basketball team battled Hamline University from start to finish, only to come up short in a 75-73 loss Saturday afternoon in a MIAC game at Joe Hutton Arena. The Scots drop to 9-14 overall and 5-13 in the conference, while the Pipers improve to 14-9, 12-6 MIAC.

The game went back and forth in the first half, with both teams taking leads of at least six points over the first 10 minutes. With Hamline leading 25-18, five points from junior guard Caleb Williams (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose) sparked 12 straight points by Macalester to make the score 30-25 with 6:41 left in the half. After the Pipers came back to tie the score at 32-32, a three-pointer by sophomore Ryan Brush (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue) and five points from junior guard Tom Andreae (Newton, Mass./Newton North) built a 40-32 edge for the Scots. Hamline responded with back-to-back threes, only to have Brush and junior guard Coby Gold (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver) hit from deep to make the halftime score 46-38 Macalester. The Scots turned the ball over only twice while scoring 10 points off five Hamline miscues in the first half.

Early in the second half, a basket by junior forward Armando Akapo-Nwagbo (Owerri, Nigeria/Pomona) extended Macalester's lead to 10, 48-38 with 18:41 to play. From that point Hamline started its comeback with a 15-0 run to take a 53-48 advantage at the 13:37 mark. Baskets by Akapo-Nwagbo, junior guard Robert Grace IV (Minneapolis, Minn./The Blake School) and first year guard Kaden Holdbrook (Palo Alto, Calif./Gunn) briefly gave the Scots a 54-53 lead. But momentum returned to the Pipers, as the hosts reeled off a 15-3 run that made the score 68-57. Three pointers by Gold and Williams helped to bring Macalester to within five, 70-65 with 4:34 left.

With the lead still five, 74-69, Williams was fouled and made two free throws to make the score 74-71 with 2:23 to play. After a Hamline missed shot, Williams drained a jumper to bring the Scots to within one, 74-73 with 1:27 left. After each team came up empty on their next two possessions, Macalester fouled Bradley Cimperman, who missed the first free throw but made the second for a 75-73 edge with 8.7 seconds on the clock. With time running down, Williams drove to the basket but his shot came up short, and the Pipers held on for the win.

The Scots outrebounded Hamline, 35-30 but were outscored in the paint, 30-20. Gold made 8-of-14 from the field, including 5-of-10 from three-point range to finish with 21 points and six rebounds. Williams tallied 20 points and a team-high eight boards, while Apako-Nwagbo scored a career-high 10 points to go with five rebounds and two blocks. Andreae dished out a team-best five assists and had nine points and six boards. Cimperman, who eclipsed 1,000 career points in the game, and Raoul Vaidya each scored 18 points to lead the Pipers.

Macalester takes on Carleton College in a MIAC game on Wednesday, Feb. 14. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in Northfield, Minn.