SUPERIOR, Wis. – After forcing overtime with five points in the final three seconds of regulation, the Macalester College men’s basketball team lost to UW-Superior, 78-76 in a non-conference game Saturday afternoon at Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium. The Scots are now 1-3 on the season, while the Yellowjackets improve to 3-1.
Late in the second half, Macalester trailed 64-59 after Andrew Kunelius made 1-of-2 at the free throw line with nine seconds left. A UW-Superior foul gave the Scots the ball out of bounds with three seconds on the clock. Junior forward Ryan Brush (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue) drained a turn-around jumper three-pointer off the inbounds play with one second to play, then sophomore guard Kaden Holdbrook (Palo Alto, Calif./Gunn) stole the ball on the Yellowjackets’ inbounds pass and scored just before the buzzer to tie the score at 64-64.
In overtime, UW-Superior went up 70-66 before junior forward Noah Shannon (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) scored to make it a two-point game with 2:12 remaining. Two Kunelius free throws restored the Yellowjackets’ four-point lead, then Hayden Quimby followed a missed three by the Scots with a three-pointer to put UW-Superior ahead, 75-68 with 46 seconds left. A three-pointer by senior guard Robert Grace IV (Minneapolis, Minn./The Blake School) just before time expired made the final score 78-76 Yellowjackets.
In the first half, Macalester shot 50.0 percent from the field but gave up eight points on eight turnovers as the score was tied, 30-30 at the break. Holdbrook scored 13 points and made three three-pointers, and Shannon scored 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field in the first half. The game went back and forth in the second half with seven lead changes and three ties. After a basket by first year guard JP Kerrigan (Atherton, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep) tied the score at 45-45 midway through the half, UW-Superior used a 12-6 run to lead, 57-51 with 4:17 left. The Scots were able to pull to within two, 61-59 following five points from junior guard Eric Wentz (Minot, N.D./Minot), but the Yellowjackets extended its lead to five with nine seconds left, setting up the Scots’ improbable comeback.
For the game, Macalester shot 56.9 percent from the field, including 9-of-21 (42.9 percent) from three-point range. But UW-Superior forced 18 Scots turnovers and held a 26-0 advantage in points off turnovers for the game. Holdbrook set a new career high for the third time this season with 26 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the field and four threes. He also had seven rebounds. Shannon finished with a season-best 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while Wentz tallied a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Brush made it four Scots in double figures with 10 points. Kunelis led UW-Superior with 16 points.
Macalester returns home to host the University of Northwestern in a non-league game on Tuesday, Nov. 19. The game starts at 7:00 p.m. in the Leonard Center.
