ST. PAUL, Minn. – Macalester College hit a game-tying three-pointer in the final second of regulation and went on to claim an 84-75 overtime victory over the St. Olaf College men's basketball team on Wednesday night at the Leonard Center.

With St. Olaf (12-11, 8-10 MIAC) leading 70-67, Caleb Williams sank a three-pointer from near the right corner while falling sideways with 0.7 seconds remaining for Macalester (15-7, 11-6 MIAC) to send the game to overtime. In the extra session, the Scots used a 9-0 run to break a 72-72 tie and went on to outscore the Oles, 14-5, in the five-minute period.

Despite the loss, St. Olaf remains just a half-game back of Hamline University for the sixth and final spot in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs. The Oles are 8-10 with two home games remaining, while the Pipers are 8-9 with three games left to play. St. Olaf is also one game back of fifth-place Gustavus Adolphus College after Hamline and Gustavus both lost on Wednesday night as well.

Senior Michael Meriggioli scored a career-high 21 points on 9-for-18 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and three assists for St. Olaf, which shot 49.1 percent (30-for-61) from the field in regulation before going just 2-for-10 (20.0 percent) in overtime.

Junior Connor Martin fell one rebound shy of a double-double with 16 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, while first year Kobe Kirk contributed 13 points. Senior Charlie Haff pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds to go with seven points off the bench.

Williams had a game-high 27 points on 9-for-25 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds for Macalester, which shot 5-for-9 (55.6 percent) in the overtime to finish at 45.6 percent (31-for-68) for the game. Coby Gold and Badou Ba both had double-doubles for the Scots, as Gold recorded 19 points, including making five three-pointers, and 13 rebounds and Ba registered 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Gold scored 14 of his 19 points in the opening half to help Macalester to a 37-32 halftime lead. The Scots never trailed in the half and led by as many as nine at 13-4 thanks, in part, to a 7-0 start over the first two minutes. Meriggioli paced St. Olaf with 10 points in the half, while sophomore Jaylen Hannah and junior Caleb Greer provided a lift off the bench with a combined 12 points.

A three-pointer by Kirk and a layup by fifth-year senior Nathan Hendler in the first 64 seconds of the second half tied the score at 37-37 and, less than three minutes later, the Oles took their first lead of the night at 43-41 on a jumper by Meriggioli. St. Olaf took its largest lead of the night at 49-45 with 12:11 remaining in regulation after back-to-back layups by Kirk and Martin.

In a second half that included seven lead changes and eight ties, a three-point play by Meriggioli gave the Oles a 56-55 advantage with 6:56 left before back-to-back three-pointers by Martin and Haff matched St. Olaf's largest lead of the night at 64-60 inside the final five minutes. With the Oles up by one, a put-back by Haff with 1:02 on the clock made it a three-point game before the teams traded pairs of free throws in the final 10 seconds to leave St. Olaf ahead by three.

After Kirk made both of his free throws with seven seconds left, Williams brought the ball up the court and drained a three-pointer with 0.7 seconds to go to tie the game and force overtime. Williams and Kirk traded baskets on the first possessions of overtime before the Scots went on the decisive 9-0 run to take a comfortable lead they would hold onto the rest of the way.

St. Olaf aims to snap its five-game losing streak when Bethel University visits Skoglund Center for a 1 p.m. start on Saturday, Feb. 11.