ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College men's basketball team came back from 12 points down to defeat the College of St. Scholastica, 79-76 in a MIAC game Saturday afternoon in the Leonard Center. Junior guard Eric Wentz (Minot, N.D./Minot) scored 28 points to lead the Scots, who improve to 7-13 overall and 4-7 in the conference. The Saints fall to 7-13, 3-8 MIAC.

Macalester trailed the entire first half, with St. Scholastica opening up with a 10-2 run. After the Saints tallied five straight points later in the half for a 27-16 advantage, a basket by first year guard JP Kerrigan (Atherton, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep) and a three-pointer from senior guard Marcus Crawford (Edina, Minn./Edina) brought the Scots to within six, 27-21 with 4:28 left in the half. St. Scholastica responded with back-to-back threes from Jacquez Overstreet for its largest lead of the game, 33-21 at the 3:49 mark. Macalester's comeback started with threes from Kerrigan and junior forward Ryan Brush (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue) that sparked a 10-3 run to close out the half and make the halftime score 36-31 in favor of the visitors. Kerrigan scored 11 points in the first half to lead all players.

Momentum stayed with the home team into the second half, as a 9-2 run buoyed by a three from Kerrigan gave Macalester its first lead of the game, 40-38 with 17:10 remaining. The lead grew to four, 49-45 before five consecutive points from the Saints, including a three by Kobe Karels, returned the upper hand to St. Scholastica, 50-49 at the 11:26 mark. The lead changed hands five times over the next three minutes, with a basket by senior guard Robert Grace IV (Minneapolis, Minn./The Blake School) giving the Scots a 58-57 edge with less than eight minutes to play.

A conventional three-point play by sophomore guard Berke Arslan (Istanbul, Turkey/Montverde Academy) and a basket by Wentz increased Macalester's lead to 63-57 with 5:50 left. After a Saints' basket and free throw, another basket by Wentz and four points from Arslan put the Scots on top, 69-62 with 2:16 on the clock. Brush drained a three and Wentz made two free throws after a St. Scholastica basket to give Macalester its largest lead of the game, 74-64 with under a minute to play. Koy Nelson hit three three-pointers in the final 39 seconds, and Overstreet made one at the buzzer, but it was not enough to prevent the Scots from winning, 79-76 to sweep the season series.

The Scots shot 57.1 percent from the field in the second half, including 4-of-9 from distance. Wentz scored 21 of his 28 points after halftime, shooting 6-of-8 from the field and 9-of-11 from the charity stripe in the second half. He also grabbed five rebounds for the game, as did senior forward Armando Akapo-Nwagbo (Owerri, Nigeria/Pomona). Kerrigan was 9-of-12 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point range en route to a career-high 23 points to go with four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Grace contributed 10 points and three assists, while Arslan added seven key points off the bench. Aaron Keykal led St. Scholastica with 23 points and nine rebounds.

Next up for Macalester is a MIAC game at Hamline on Saturday, Feb. 8. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m. in St. Paul.