DECORAH, Iowa – The Macalester College men's basketball team opened the 2025-26 campaign with a non-conference game at Luther College  Friday night at the Regents Center. The Scots came up short in overtime, 80-70 despite a double-double for senior forward Noah Shannon (Northfield, Ill./New Trier). Last year Macalester was 9-16 overall, while Luther was 2-22 in 2024-25.

The result marked Macalester's first game under first year head coach Rich Glesmann.

In his first collegiate game, first year guard Owen Walther (St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs School) made his first two three-point attempts for an early 6-0 lead. The Scots maintained the upper hand until a 9-0 run by the Norse put the hosts on top, 23-18. Luther still led by five, 29-24 when two more threes from Walther and a pair of free throws by sophomore guard Joaquin Aguillon (San Rafael, Calif./The Branson School) regained the lead for Macalester, 32-29. After the Norse used a 6-1 run to take a slim 35-33 edge with under a minute to play in the half, senior forward Ryan Brush (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue) drained a three-pointer at the end of the half to send the Scots into the halftime break with a 36-35 advantage. Walther was 4-of-8 from three-point range for 12 points in the half, with Shannon adding 10 points.

At the start of the second half, junior guard Kyle Jilla (Dallas, Texas/St. Stephens) and Walther made back-to-back threes to extend the Scots' lead to 42-35. After Luther battled back to tie the score at 42-42, Macalester went on a 13-0 spree, including six points by Shannon and another three-pointer from Walther, to build a 55-42 lead with 11:29 remaining. The Norse responded with seven straight points, but a free throw by first year forward Jaden Feller (Mountain View, Calif./Mountain View) and a three by Brush gave the Scots a 10-point bulge, 59-49 with 6:22 on the clock.

Following a basket by Aguillon that put Macalester ahead, 65-54 with 4:19 to play, Luther roared back with a 13-2 run that included a three-pointer by Andre Palavra with 21 seconds left that tied the score at 67-67. Shannon's attempt at the buzzer was off the mark, sending the game to overtime. Palavra took over in the extra session, scoring eight of Luther's 13 points, while the Scots made just 1-of-8 of their shots from the field to fall, 80-70.

Shannon registered a double-double with 22 points and 14 rebounds while shooting 8-of-14 from the field to lead Macalester. Walther finished with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc, with Aguillon adding career-bests of nine points and seven boards. Shannon, Aguillon and Jilla each delivered three assists, with Jilla also grabbing five rebounds. Palavra led all scorers with 23 points.

The Scots return to Iowa on Sunday, Nov. 9 for a non-conference game at Wartburg. The opening tip is set for 2:00 p.m. in Waverly, Iowa.