COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The Macalester College men's basketball team held the lead at the half but eventually lost to Saint John's University on the road, 76-56 in a MIAC game Wednesday night at Sexton Arena. The Scots are now 6-8 overall and 1-4 in the conference, while the Johnnies improve to 6-8, 3-2 MIAC.

After giving up the first five points of the game, Macalester used a 13-3 run to lead, 13-8 midway through the first half. Saint John's came back to tie the score at 20-20, but the Scots closed out the half by outscoring the Johnnies 13-9 over the final 6:45 to take a 33-29 advantage into the halftime break. Senior forward Noah Shannon (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) tallied 10 points and five rebounds in the first half, with sophomore guard Joaquin Aguillon (San Rafael, Calif./The Branson School) adding six points.

The lead was still four, 35-31 when Saint John's reeled off a 14-4 spree that gave the Johnnies the upper hand, 45-39 with 14:51 remaining. After Macalester pulled to within four, 47-43 with a basket by junior guard Kyle Jilla (Dallas, Texas/Plano West), Saint John's extended its lead to 60-45 at the 8:22 mark with a 13-2 run. Macalester came as close as 11 points the rest of the way, as the Johnnies closed out the game by scoring the final six points of the contest. The Scots shot just 28.6 percent from the field in the second half compared to 63.3 percent for Saint John's.

Shannon registered his sixth double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds to go with two assists. First year guard Noah Hamburge (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnehaha Academy) added 10 points, while Jilla registered nine rebounds to go with five points and four assists. Peyton Podany scored 15 points to pace the Johnnies.

Macalester plays another MIAC road game on Saturday, Jan. 10 at Augsburg University. Game time is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. In Minneapolis.