Nate Assel contributed nine points and Andy Stein had eight points and five boards. Lars Johnson, playing in his first game this season, started and dished out four assists.
Macalester shot 51% from the floor and dropped in 6-of-11 from three-point range, while the Falcons shot just 36% on the night.
Hans Hoeg scored 21 of his 24 points in the second half to lead a UWRF comeback attempt. He knocked down 5-of-8 from behind the arc in the second half. The Falcons trailed 34-18 at halftime and were down by 19 points at 41-22 with 16:57 left in the game. Hoeg then led a comeback which saw the Macalester lead decrease to seven points at 45-38 at 12:11 with a 16-4 rally.
The Scots then responded with a 10-2 run, extending the margin to 15 points at 55-40 with 8:28 to go before River Falls made another comeback. Mac’s decisive 10-2 rally began with an Assel three-pointer followed by a couple treys by Jesse Hollander. Hollander converted a free throw to make his second trey a four-point play. The Falcons got to within six points at the 2:19 mark and :43 mark, but never got closer.
Ryan Zylstra and Mark James joined Hoeg in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Macalester is off until a Dec. 29 game at Viterbo. Wisconsin-River Falls plays Friday (Dec. 16) at Bethany Lutheran.
Newspaper Box Score Wisconsin-River Falls vs Macalester 12/14/05 7:30 p.m. at Macalester Gymnasium - St. Paul, Minn. At Macalester Gymnasium - St. Paul, Minn. MACALESTER 62, WISCONSIN-RIVER FALLS 54 WISCONSIN-RIVER FALLS (1-8) Hoeg, Hans 8-14 3-4 24; Zylstra, Ryan 5-10 1-2 11; James, Mark 4-7 1-2 10; Thompson, Ryan 2-8 0-0 5; Kelly, Scott 2-7 0-0 4; Pearson, Tim 0-2 0-0 0; Maas, Alex 0-1 0-0 0; Rondeau, Cory 0-0 0-0 0; Hall, Nick 0-0 0-0 0; Kossoris, Eric 0-10 0-2 0; Olson, Erik 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-59 5-10 54. MACALESTER (2-6) Tom Conboy 7-9 5-8 20; Brendan Bosman 5-14 2-4 13; Nate Assel 3-5 2-4 9; Andy Stein 4-6 0-0 8; Jesse Hollander 2-5 1-1 7; T. Robinson-Wilson 1-1 0-1 3; Lars Johnson 1-5 0-0 2; Trevor Jepma 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-45 10-18 62. Wisconsin-River Falls......... 18 36 - 54 Macalester.................... 34 28 - 62 3-point goals-Wisconsin-River Falls 7-29 (Hoeg, Hans 5-10; James, Mark 1-2; Thompson, Ryan 1-6; Pearson, Tim 0-2; Kossoris, Eric 0-5; Kelly, Scott 0-4), Macalester 6-11 (Jesse Hollander 2-2; T. Robinson-Wilson 1-1; Brendan Bosman 1-3; Tom Conboy 1-1; Nate Assel 1-1; Lars Johnson 0-3). Fouled out--Wisconsin-River Falls-None, Macalester-None. Rebounds-Wisconsin-River Falls 30 (Kossoris, Eric 7), Macalester 37 (Brendan Bosman 9). Assists-Wisconsin-River Falls 16 (Thompson, Ryan 7), Macalester 12 (Lars Johnson 4). Total fouls-Wisconsin-River Falls 17, Macalester 11. A-175