St. Thomas kept its hold on a first place tie in the MIAC standings by pulling away in the second half for a 78-65 win over Macalester at the Leonard Center. The Tommies drained 8-of-15 shots from beyond the arc and shot 51% on the night.
Pierce Peters (Jr., Glenwood, Minn. / Minnewaska Area) scored 16 points to boost his career total at Macalester to an even 1,000 points, and becomes the 19th member of the Macalester men's basketball program to reach this level. He's one of just a few Scots to reach 1,000 points in his junior season. Peters reached the milestone on a three-point play with 1:47 to go.
Sam Marshall (Jr., Sun Prairie, Wis.) was strong in the paint and finished with a team-leading 17 points for the Scots. Peters added three assists, two steals and a pair of blocked shots. Lamont Diggs (So., Fridley, Minn.) scored 10 points and Hans Erickson (Fy., La Crosse, Wis. / Logan) dished out four assists.
Mac led 34-28 in points in the paint and surrendered just 14 points off turnovers against a constant UST full-court press
UST, the defending NCAA Division III champions, was challenged by the upset-minded Scots. The Tommies led 39-36 at halftime and led by four points at 58-54 midway through the second period. At that point St. Thomas began a 17-4 run to put the game away.
Zach Riedeman paced St. Thomas with 20 points. Will DeBerg produced 13 points and five assists.
St. Thomas goes to 14-5 overall and 11-3 in the MIAC, and stays tied with Gustavus on top of the conference standings. Macalester is 1-18 overall, 1-13 in the MIAC.
Macalester jumps right back into competition Wednesday (Feb. 1) with an MIAC contest at Carleton.