ST. PAUL, Minn. - In the lone meeting of the season between the two MIAC foes, senior forward Noah Shannon (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) poured in 30 points. The performance marked his sixth game of the season with at least 30 points. Despite a strong start and a double-digit second-half lead, the Scots were unable to hold on and fell to St. Olaf College in a MIAC Match-up Saturday afternoon in the Leonard Center. Macalester is now 6-14 overall and 1-9 in conference play, while the Oles improve to 13-7, 9-2 MIAC. 

The two teams wasted no time to get the scoring going as senior forward Ryan Brush (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue) connected on two three pointers to trade with St. Olaf. Macalester soon began to settle in, using a 13-3 run over a 6:15 stretch to take control.  Shanon introduced himself by logging nine points and giving the Scots a 21-12 advantage. The Oles buckled down and proceeded to connect on four triples, which the Scots matched with layups on their end of the floor. With a one-point advantage, junior guard Kyle Jilla (Dallas, Texas/Plano West) converted on a three point play to give the Scots some breathing room. A late three from first-year guard Noah Hamburge (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnehaha Academy) sent the Scots into the locker room with a 44-40 advantage. 

Shannon came out of the break in attack mode, scoring six quick points to re-establish his presence in the paint. Jilla also added a three pointer to give the Scots a double digit cushion. St. Olaf was able to hit a few shots and stay within striking distance, but then Macalester jumped out to their largest lead of the contest, as Shannon began to take over and score nine more points and boost the score to 70-54. When it looked like the Scots were going to start pulling away with it and upset the number two team in the conference, the Oles flipped the switch and forced Macalester to go ice cold. St. Olaf then went on an unbelievable 21-2 run to come back and stun the Scots to steal a 75-72 victory. In a contest where the Oles only led for a total of 1:52,it proved to be enough to secure the victory. 

Shannon led all scorers, finishing with 30 points while also snagging 8 rebounds. Jilla finished the night off in double figures with 10 points while Brush and first-year forward Javier Diaz (Lake Oswego, Ore./Tualatin) each chipped in 8. The Oles were led by Kobe Kirk who finished the night with 18 points en route to the comeback win. 

Macalester is back in action on Feb 4, traveling to Duluth to face The College of Saint Scholastica. Tip- off is set for 3:00 p.m.