ST. PAUL, Minn. – Senior forward Noah Shannon (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) poured in a career-high 35 points to lift the Macalester College men's basketball team past UW-Stout, 82-76 Wednesday night in the home opener in the Leonard Center. The victory is the first of the season for the Scots, who are 1-2 on the season. The Blue Devils fall to 1-1.

The win also is the first under new head coach Rich Glesmann.

Macalester trailed early, as UW-Stout opened up with an 18-5 run over the first six minutes and 23 seconds of the game. The score was 20-8 when the Scots responded with a 9-2 run that included four points from sophomore guard Joaquin Aguillon (San Rafael, Calif./The Branson School) and a conventional three-point play by Shannon that made the score 22-17. Junior guard Kyle Jilla (Dallas, Texas/Plano West) and senior forward Ryan Brush (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue) hit back-to-back threes to help cut the deficit to three, 26-23.

After two UW-Stout free throws, first year guard Jamal Randle (St. Paul, Minn./Great River School) made a driving layup, then drained a three to tie the score at 28-28 with four minutes left in the half. Two free throws from first year guard Owen Walther (St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs School) gave Macalester its first lead of the game, only to have the Blue Devils tally the next six points for a 34-30 edge. With time winding down in the half, Walther hit a pair of three-pointers sandwiched around two more UW-Stout free throws to tie the game at 36-36 at the half.

Early in the second half, Shannon scored the Scots' first eight points to help his team take a 40-36 advantage. With the score 50-46 Macalester, the Scots went on a 9-0 run that included another three from Walther and built a 59-46 lead with 9:21 to play. But a 14-2 run by the Blue Devils made it a one-point game, 61-60 with 5:21 remaining. Undeterred, Macalester turned to Shannon, who scored on back-to-back possessions followed by another Walther three-pointer to push the lead back up to eight, 68-60 with under four minutes to play.

UW-Stout came within five points twice but was unable to get any closer, as Aguillon made a three and Shannon hit six free throws to close out the win. The Scots shot 51.6 percent from the field after halftime and made 9-of-20 (45.0 percent) from beyond the arc for the game. Macalester also earned a 48-40 rebounding advantage and had eight steals.

Shannon shot 12-of-22 from the field and 11-of-15 from the charity stripe en route to a career-high 35 points. He also grabbed a team-best 12 rebounds and added five assists and three steals while drawing 10 fouls and committing only one. Walther finished with 14 points and five rebounds, while Aguillon totaled seven points, six boards and five assists. Randle and Jilla also scored seven points apiece, with Jilla contributing eight rebounds. Tyrel Cregar paced the Blue Devils with 24 points.

Next up for Macalester is a home game against Grinnell College on Saturday, Nov. 15. The non-conference match-up begins at 4:00 p.m. in the Leonard Center.