DULUTH, Minn. – With under seven minutes to go in the first half, senior forward Noah Shannon (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) sank a layup to reach his 1,000th career point. He did not stop there: all told, Shannon dropped 29 points to go with eight rebounds and five assists to lead the Macalester College men's basketball team to a 87-77 victory over the College of St. Scholastica. The Scots rise to 2-10 in the MIAC and 7-14 overall, while the Saints fall to an identical 2-10 in the MIAC but 6-15 overall.

Scholastica drew first blood with a layup, but Macalester responded swiftly with a 21-4 run that featured seven points from Shannon and was capped with a three-pointer from first-year forward Javier Diaz (Lake Oswego, Ore./Tualatin).

The Saints whittled the Scot lead down to five points, but Shannon scored back-to-back buckets followed by a layup from sophomore guard Joaquin Aguillon (San Rafael, Calif./The Branson School) returned Mac to a double-digit cushion. Scholastica did not let the Scots stay comfortable, rattling off an 11-2 run to cut its deficit to two. A series of free throws from Shannon and junior forward Kyle Jilla (Dallas, Texas/Plano West) kept Mac above water going into the half, up 39-34.

Shannon dropped 13 points, six rebounds and three assists in the half. Diaz added nine points of his own on 4-of-5 shooting from the field. The Scots logged a 12-to-2 assist-to-turnover ratio in the first half, compared to a 7-to-5 ratio for the Saints.

Scholastica started the second half with a quick burst, but Macalester answered back once again with a 14-4 run that featured five points from first-year guard Noah Hamburge (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnehaha Academy) and four from Diaz. The Saints gave the Scots a scare a couple more times, cutting the lead to five with less than 10 minutes left and then doing it again with a little over three-and-a-half, but the Scots didn't flinch either time. First-year guard Owen Walther (St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs School) scored all eight of his points of the day in those final 10 minutes to power Mac to the win.

Shannon poured in another 16 points in the second half, including 8-of-9 free throw shooting. Hamburge added eight points of his own, along with two rebounds and two assists. The Scots shot 15-of-29 from the field in the period, compared to 13-of-33 for the Saints, and 16-of-20 from the free throw line, compared to 17-of-19 for the Saints.

Supporting Shannon's historic night, Diaz dropped 13 points, two rebounds and two assists. Hamburge finished with 11 points, four rebounds and three assists. Jilla ended with nine points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. Aguillon posted seven points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals.

The Scots returns to action against Gustavus Adolphus College on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 3 p.m. in the Leonard Center.