Guard Grant Shaeffer scored 17 points for the twelfth-ranked St. Thomas men’s basketball team in its 72-61 win Wednesday night over Macalester College at Schoenecker Arena.
The Tommies (4-1 overall, 1-0 MIAC) held a 40-21 lead at halftime before the Scots (4-2 overall, 0-1 MIAC) made a comeback.
After Macalester cut the lead to 10 points at 53-43 with about 10 minutes to go, Shaeffer proceeded to score the next eight points for the Tommies, including a layup through contact off of an inbound pass from guard GT Johnson underneath the basket.
Twelve of Shaeffer’s points came in the second half. The senior leader proved he isn’t afraid to be the ball handler when the game is on the line.
“When the game is getting close and in crunch time, I like to have the ball in my hands and make a play for myself,” Shaeffer said. “It’s been that way for a long time and for better or for worse it’s probably not going to change.”
Aside from Shaeffer’s 17 points, other leading scorers for the Tommies were guard John Veil with 15 points and forward Connor Bair with 10.
St. Thomas head coach John Tauer was happy with his team’s defensive effort in the win despite Macalester’s comeback.
“Macalester has good shooters, and I thought our guys had laser-like focus in terms of the pressure we were trying to apply defensively,” Tauer said. “I thought it was the best energy that we have had from a defensive perspective in the first half.”
Leading the defense for the Tommies was senior Jordan Burich who finished with 12 rebounds and four blocks.
“I thought Jordan did a stellar job defensively setting the tone in the first half,” Tauer said. “Having him on the floor is a big boost for us.”
The Tommies’ next game is 3 p.m. Saturday at Augsburg.
“Augsburg has a lot of guys who can score as well as some new faces,” Tauer said. “It should be a great road test.”
Taylor Smith can be reached at smit9660@stthomas.edu.