ST. PAUL, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's basketball team led for over 37 minutes on its way to a 75-58 road victory over Macalester College on Saturday afternoon at the Leonard Center.
St. Olaf (3-20, 2-12 MIAC) played one of its best offensive games of the season, shooting 48.3 percent (28-for-58) from the field, while overcoming a 33-point outburst by Eric Wentz for Macalester (7-16, 4-10 MIAC). The 75 points and 48.3 percent shooting were both the Oles' third-highest marks of the season.
Junior
Kobe Kirk shot 9-for-16 from the field and 3-for-6 from three-point range to lead St. Olaf with 21 points, moving up two more spots to 13th on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,156 points. Senior
Addison Metcalf fell one rebound shy of a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds while shooting an efficient 4-for-7 from the field, 3-for-4 from long range, and 4-for-5 at the free-throw line. First year
AJ Uhl was also in double figures with 11 points and six rebounds, while sophomore
Jachin Mertes added eight points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
Wentz accounted for over half of Macalester's scoring in the game, pouring in 33 points on 14-for-27 shooting overall. Wentz was 5-for-7 from three-point range but no other Scot had more than seven points.
Kirk made all three of his three-pointers in the game in the first half as part of a 15-point opening 20 minutes to lead St. Olaf to a 39-30 lead at the break. Three-pointers from Uhl, sophomore
Chris Willis, and Kirk in the opening four minutes got the Oles out to an 11-8 lead. St. Olaf made six three-pointers in the opening half and led by as many as 14 in the final four minutes after Kirk's third three-pointer of the half, but the Scots closed the half on a mini 5-0 run to get their deficit down to single digits.
St. Olaf led by double digits for the final 19 minutes after a Kirk jumped opened the scoring in the second half. Metcalf was 3-for-3 from beyond the arc in an 11-point second half to help offset a 24-point half from Wentz, who was 10-for-16 from the field and 4-for-5 from three-point range in the half. The Oles led by as many as 21 in the second half.
In its final home game of the season, St. Olaf will take on Saint Mary's University on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at Skoglund Center.
