Junior John Nance’s 15 points helped the St. Thomas men’s basketball team (7-1 overall, 4-0 MIAC) overcome a slow first half to defeat Macalester (0-7, 0-4) 86-64 Wednesday evening at Schoenecker Arena.

The Tommies opened conference play with four double-digit wins in eight days and moved up five spots to No. 16 in this week’s D3hoops.com national poll.

“We came out a little sluggish in the first half,” coach John Tauer said. “But I loved our energy in the second half. What we’re always talking about is 40 minutes of energy.”

The Tommies had nine turnovers in the first half and led 36-34 heading into the third quarter

“We played pretty bad in the first half, but we regrouped,” senior center Tommy Hannon said. “We came into the second half with more energy and got everyone into the game. That really helped us to get our offense going.”

After Nance suffered from a big foul that knocked him across the floor and caused him to sit out for a few minutes, senior guard Peter Leslie hit a 3-pointer that started a 14-0 run with 11:20 left in the second half.

Nance thinks the team is starting to find its groove.

“Our team is coming together. We have a couple of new guys on the team who are still getting used to their roles,” Nance said.

The team shot 56 percent from the floor, an improvement from the 51.9 percent in its first seven games.

Hannon and Leslie both had 14 points, and freshman Dylan Stewart added a career-high 11 points.

Leslie led the team with five assists and seven steals.

The Tommies now have a week off and are set to play University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Dec. 22, a game the team is looking forward to.

“That will be a great test right before Christmas and will get us ready for the rest of the conference season,” Tauer said.

With the Tommies’ victory and Ausburg’s 82-80 loss to Gustavus, St. Thomas is in first place in the MIAC.

Jessica Barton can be reached at bart2049@stthomas.edu