The Gusties improve to 19-5 overall and 17-2 in the MIAC. Macalester drops to 10-14, 9-10 in the MIAC. The win, coupled with a St. Thomas loss Wednesday, gives Gustavus the outright MIAC championship for the second year in a row.
Adam TeBrake had 18 points and four assists to pace Gustavus. Doug Espenson added 17 points, six rebounds and four steals. Trevor Wittwer came off the bench to score 10.
Tom Conboy had 18 points and nine rebounds to pace Macalester. Erik Jackson added 14 points and Wes McFarland had 12 points, nine rebounds, six assists and a couple blocked shots.
Gustavus shot 51% from the field, compared to 43% for the Scots, who were just 4-for-15 from three-point range and 4-for-11 from the foul line. Down 15-0 after missing its first eight shots, Macalester got on the board at the 13:17 mark.
Gustavus led 38-22 at halftime. The Scots got back to within nine points at 50-41 with 8:45 to play, but the Gusties responded with a quick 8-0 spurt to go up 58-41 at the 7:09 mark. Mac got it down to nine again at 63-54 with 2:48 to go but Gustavus went 7-for-8 from the free throw line from that point on.
Macalester opens MIAC playoff action with a quarter-final game Tuesday (Feb. 22) at Carleton at 7:30 p.m. Gustavus has a first round bye and will host an MIAC semi-final contest Thursday (Feb. 24).