ST. PETER, Minn. – After suffering its first loss of the season earlier in the week, the Macalester College men’s basketball team bounced back with a 75-70 victory at Gustavus in a MIAC game Saturday afternoon at Gus Young Court. Sophomore guard Coby Gold (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver) poured in a career-high 27 points and hit six three-pointers to lead all players. The road win gives the Scots a 6-1 record overall and a 3-0 mark in the conference. The Gusties drop to 2-4, 2-2 MIAC.
The result is Macalester’s third win in the past four meetings with Gustavus and the first victory in St. Peter since a 95-91 overtime win on Jan. 21, 2017.
Macalester never trailed in the game, jumping out to a 9-0 lead, sparked by four points from junior guard Caleb Williams (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose) and a three by junior guard Tom Andreae (Newton, Mass./Newton North). The lead grew to 15 following two three-pointers from Gold and another from sophomore guard Marcus Crawford (Edina, Minn./Edina) to make the score 29-14 with nine minutes remaining in the half. Gustavus used a 14-6 run to pull to within seven, 35-28 with three minutes left, but a three and a layup by first year guard Eric Wentz (Minot, N.D./Minot) pushed the lead back up to 12, 40-28. After the teams exchanged baskets, Gold drained his fifth three of the half for a 45-30 advantage before a basket by Jordan Schommer made the halftime score 45-32. The Scots shot 51.5 percent from the field compared to 46.7 percent for the Gusties.
Gustavus quickly got back into the game early in the second half with a 10-1 run that made it a four-point game, 46-42 with 17:11 on the clock. Macalester regained control and led by nine, 62-53 following an 8-2 run. The hosts continued to mount a comeback and reeled off a 12-4 run capped by a three-pointer from Schommer that made it a one-point game, 66-65 with 7:36 to play. Williams made a pair of free throws, then Gold hit his sixth three-pointer of the game for a 71-65 lead with under five minutes remaining. The Gusties were able to cut the deficit to three twice, but a couple of offensive rebounds, including one by sophomore guard Robert Grace IV (Minneapolis, Minn./The Blake School), a steal by Williams and two free throws from Gold down the stretch sealed the win for Macalester.
The Scots, who made 3-of-21 from three-point range in Wednesday’s 64-61 loss at Crown College, hit 10-of-29 (34.5 percent) from beyond the arc on Saturday. Gold was 6-of-15 from deep, his most threes made as a Scot. He also recorded four assists, three steals and a block while making all three of his free throw attempts. Williams finished with 13 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Sophomore forward Badou Ba (Dakar, Senegal/Williston Northampton) also had 13 points to go with five rebounds and four blocks. First year forward Noah Shannon (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) contributed six points, a team-best seven boards, three assists and a steal. Schommer led the Gusties with 17 points.
Macalester continues conference play on Wednesday, Dec. 7, when Saint John’s visits the Leonard Center in a rematch of last year’s MIAC Playoff championship. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.