ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College men's basketball team dropped a MIAC game to Saint Mary's University, 72-69 Saturday afternoon in the Leonard Center. The Scots fall to 9-12 overall and 5-11 in conference play, while the Cardinals improve to 6-15, 5-11 MIAC.

Early in the first half, a pair of threes by sophomore guard Eric Wentz (Minot, N.D./Minot) and another from junior guard Coby Gold (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver) helped Macalester open up with a 13-5 run. Saint Mary's responded by scoring the next 12 points to lead 17-13 with 11:26 left in the half. A basket by first year forward Simon Weisserman (Chicago, Ill./Lake Forest Academy), a three from first year guard Kaden Holdbrook (Palo Alto, Calif./Gunn) and free throws by Holdbrook and Gold gave the lead back to the Scots, 20-17 midway through the half. After the Cardinals came back to tie the score at 20-20, Macalester used a 13-4 run that included three-pointers from Gold, and junior guards Caleb Williams (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose) and Marcus Crawford (Edina, Minn./Edina) to build a 33-24 advantage. Saint Mary's was able to reduce the lead to five before Williams made back-to-back baskets to give the Scots a 39-30 lead at the break. Macalester held the Cardinals to 37.9 percent shooting from the field in the half while scoring eight points off six Saint Mary's turnovers.

Junior guard Tom Andreae (Newton, Mass./Newton North) started the second half with a three, then junior forward Armando Akapo-Nwagbo (Owerri, Nigeria/Pomona) answered a Cardinals' free throw with a layup to give Macalester its largest lead of the game, 44-31 with 18 minutes to play. Saint Mary's picked away at the lead, eventually cutting it to five, 51-46 before a three from Gold and a basket by Weisserman pushed the lead back up to 10, 56-46 with 11:36 remaining. Over the next six minutes, Saint Mary's outscored the Scots 18-8 to tie the game at 64-64 with 4:15 left.

After Weisserman briefly put Macalester ahead with a layup, a Breyton Buysman free throw and a three from Khai Branham allowed the Cardinals to regain the lead, 68-66 with three minutes left. Wentz drained a three at the 1:27 mark for a one-point Macalester lead, 69-68. Jemari Moore tied the score with a free throw, then Buysman followed up a Scots turnover with a basket that made the score 71-69 Saint Mary's with 25 seconds remaining. A missed three-pointer and foul sent Moore back to the line, where he again made 1-of-2, giving Macalester one last chance, down 72-69 with 6.7 seconds left. But a three-point shot at the buzzer was off the mark, and Saint Mary's earned the season sweep with the victory.

The Cardinals scored 13 points off seven Scots turnovers after halftime and held a 23-15 advantage in rebounding in the second half. Williams finished with a team-best 13 points, while Wentz tallied 12 points and six rebounds. Weisserman scored a career-high 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting and had six rebounds. Gold turned in a solid all-around game with 10 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Buysman led all players with 21 points for Saint Mary's.

Macalester takes on Gustavus on the road on Monday, Feb. 5. The MIAC game starts at 7:00 p.m. in St. Peter, Minn.