MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Macalester College men's basketball team dropped a MIAC game at Concordia College, 71-56 despite 23 points from junior guard Eric Wentz (Minot, N.D./Minot) Wednesday night at Memorial Auditorium. The Scots are now 5-12 overall and 2-6 in the conference, while the Cobbers improve to 7-10 overall and 3-5 in the MIAC.

Concordia led for most of the first half and built a 25-17 advantage with seven minutes on the clock. Consecutive three-pointers by Wentz, junior forward Ryan Brush (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue) and senior guard Marcus Crawford (Edina, Minn./Edina) gave Macalester a 26-25 lead with just under five minutes left in the half. The Cobbers answered by tallying the final 10 points of the period to take a 35-26 lead into the halftime break. Concordia shot 45.2 percent from the field while holding the Scots to 34.5 percent shooting in the first half. Wentz hit four threes to pace Macalester with 12 points.

After senior forward Armando Akapo-Nwagbo (Owerri, Nigeria/Pomona) scored to open the second half, the Cobbers pushed their lead to 13, 44-31 with 16:25 to play. First year guard Berke Arslan (Istanbul, Turkey/Montverde Academy) hit a three and senior guard Tom Andreae (Newton, Mass./Newton North) made a layup to cut the deficit to eight, 44-36. But again, Concordia responded by scoring the next seven points for its largest lead of the game, 51-36 with 10:46 remaining.

Macalester pulled to within eight, 54-46 following a three from Brush and a basket by Wentz, only to have the Cobbers increase their lead back to 14, 64-50. One more push from the Scots that saw Crawford and first year guard JP Kerrigan (Atherton, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep) score to make it a 10-point game at 64-54 with two minutes left. But it was not enough, as Concordia closed out the game on a 7-2 run to wrap up the win. The Scots limited the Cobbers to just 29.2 percent shooting from the field in the second half, but the hosts made 19-of-24 from the free throw line after halftime compared to 5-of-8 for Macalester.

Wentz led all scorers with 23 points, making 8-of-16 from the floor and 5-of-10 from three-point range. He is averaging 25.3 points over his last three games, which includes a 26-point effort in the Scots' 61-56 victory over Saint Mary's last Saturday. Akapo-Nwagbo registered a career-high 11 points to go with a team-best eight rebounds. Andreae finished with seven assists and six rebounds, while Arslan had his best game as a Scot with seven points. Rowan Nelson paced Concordia with 20 points and 10 boards.

Macalester returns home to host Augsburg University on Saturday, Jan. 25. The MIAC contest begins at 3:00 p.m. in the Leonard Center.