The men’s basketball team, now 1–2 in the year in non-conference play, fell to the Falcons of UW-River Falls, Tuesday, Nov. 26 by a score of 86–73. The Scots got off to a slow start, falling behind 16-6. However, they soon went on a 16-6 run of their own to grab a two point halftime lead. Unfortunately, just five minutes into the second half the Scots saw their last lead of the game slip away as the Falcons went on an 8–0 run. The Scots could only manage to pull within two, 65–63, before the Falcons went on a nine-point run to put the contest away.

“We played hard but fell short in the end. We missed a couple of key buckets that hurt us in the end,” said center Adam Denny ’04.

River Falls, who is 3–0 on the season, shot 54 percent from the field and made seven of 16 from behind the arc. Rich Melzer led the way for the Falcons with 31 points and eight rebounds.

Ben Van Thorre ’04 led the way for the Scots, pumping in 21 points. Denny scored 12 points and ripped down 12 rebounds while Erik Jackson ’05 scored 13 points. Wes McFarland ’05 added 12 points and Will Moeller ’05 scored 10.

The team came out on top, 76–60, when they took on the South Australia Sports Institution on Monday, Dec. 2, finishing with a 26–11 advantage on offensive boards.

The Scots got off to a slow start but soon took control of the game, turning the ball over just seven times. Four players reached double figures in the scoring column. Patrick Russell ’03 scored 24 points to led the way for the Scots, while Denny also had a strong performance, finishing with 10 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Van Thorre and Jackson added 14 points each.

“We got off to a slow start again, but it ended up being a good warm-up game for our conference opener against Bethel,” Denny said.

The Scots, who are looking to finish high in the conference this season, open their MIAC schedule against a strong Bethel team, Saturday, Dec. 7 in Arden Hills. Bethel will be looking to avenge their recent loss to Carelton. Both teams are coming off conference playoff appearances last season and it should be an enticing early-season matchup. Tip-off is at 3 p.m. The Scots then travel to Augsburg on Dec. 9 and return home to take on Concordia-Moorehead on Dec. 11; both are conference games.