St. Thomas improves to 11-5 overall, 11-1 in the MIAC, and remains a game ahead of Gustavus in the race for the conference title. Macalester drops to 7-10 overall and 6-6 in the MIAC.
Erik Jackson went 5-for-6 from three-point range and finished with 22 points to pace Macalester. Tom Conboy added 18 points and 10 rebounds and Wes McFarland came off the bench to contribute nine points.
St. Thomas shot 59% and led 45-37 at halftime as Rosefelt had 10 points and nine boards to lead the way for the visitors. The Scots, however, held UST to just three points over the first nine minutes of the second half as Macalester went up by eight points at 56-48.
Macalester led 59-54 with 6:25 to go. St. Thomas responded by running off 10 unanswered points to go up 64-59 with 1:13 to go. UST made six straight free throws after that to ice the win. Shimek netted six points during the decisive 10-0 Tommie run.
These two Summit Avenue rivals return to MIAC action Saturday (Jan. 29). St. Thomas play at Hamline and Macalester plays at St. Mary’s.