Men’s basketball was eliminated in the MIAC semifinals on Feb. 21 by St. Thomas, 86-77, but not before the Scots fought back in another comeback attempt.

The Tommies took a 61-41 lead with 9:37 remaining in the second quarter before the Scots stormed back with a barrage of three-pointers, cutting the lead to 79-74 with 40 seconds left. However, the Tommies made 11 of their 12 free throws in the last 1:16 of the game to deny Macalester’s push for its second improbable comeback win in two days.

The loss ended Macalester’s best season since 1980-81, when the Scots shared the MIAC title with St. Thomas for only their second ever first-place finish.

Fifth-ranked St. Thomas won the MIAC title with a 73-61 win over Bethel in the final last Saturday. The Tommies moved on to the Division III national tournament, where they are joined by Gustavus Adolphus.

After an even start, in which guard Ryan Gerry ’02 continued his hot shooting by making his first three attempts from behind the three-point line to keep Macalester afloat, the Tommies began to dominate on both sides of the court. The Tommies adjusted to cover Gerry and the rest of the team struggled from the field. The Scots stumbled during several opportunities to catch up to the Tommies by turning over the ball.

On defense, the Scots were unable to work their way past screens set by St. Thomas at the top of the key. Forward Jimmy Sioris had several clear drives to the basket as St. Thomas ran the pick-and-roll for the entire half.

St. Thomas took a 44-29 lead into halftime after shooting 55 percent from the field.

The Tommies continued to dominate as the second half started and built their lead up to 20 halfway through the second half. From that point, the Scots clawed their way back into the game.

First-year point guard Erik Jackson came off of the bench and led Macalester’s comeback. Jackson made all five of his three-point attempts in the last meeting between the two teams and continued to pester the Tommies with his deadly long-range shooting.

Guard Chris Palm ’02, who was named to the conference All-Defensive Team, took a more aggressive role in the Scots’ offense, drilling two consecutive three-pointers to make the score 65-57 with 4:47 remaining.

The large contingent of Macalester fans, who were very vocal in the game’s early stages, made their presence felt again as the seemingly impossible chance to repeat the 17-point comeback against St. John’s became realistic.

Patrick Russell ’03 also found his groove late in the game, and his three-pointer with 40 seconds left made the score 79-74. But that was as close as the Scots were to get, as Buri and Sioris converted their free throws to clinch the win.

Leading the Scots in scoring was Center Doug Benson ’03 and Jackson, who made five of his six three-point attempts, with 15 points apiece. Russell scored 13 points while Gerry scored 12, playing only 28 minutes after getting into foul trouble.

Palm scored 10 points and Van Thorre, who scored nine, led the Scots with 10 rebounds.

Sioris led all scorers with a career-high 26 points while MIAC player of the year Mark Buri scored 22.

The Scots turned the ball over 15 times compared to St. Thomas’ seven and were out-rebounded, 43-33.

Benson, Russell and Van Thorre were selected for the 15-man 2001-2 All-Conference Team.