ST. PAUL - The Martin Luther College men's basketball team was unable to come all the way back from a first-half deficit in an 87-78 loss at Macalester on Tuesday.

The Knights trailed 42-24 at the half, and struggled to get much going on the offensive end. Josh Rathje kept MLC within striking distance with 13 points in the half, shooting 5-9 from the field and 3-5 from beyond the three-point arc, but the Scots dominated the glass, outrebounding the Knights 31-13 before the break on the way to the 18-point lead.

MLC came out firing after the break, however, matching its 24-point total in the first eight minutes of the second half.

Todd Brassow missed all six of his attempts and went scoreless in the first half, but shot 12-20 from the field in the second half on the way to a team-high 29 points in the game. He made a pair of three-pointers to cut the deficit to six points with just under two minutes to play, and cut the lead to five with 30 seconds to play with another from beyond the arc, but that would be as close as the Knights could get before the final buzzer.

Brassow finished the game 12-26 from the field for 29 points, and also added a team-high ten rebounds. T.J. Babinec added 19 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while Rathje finished with 17 points. 

The Knights did a much better job on the glass in the second half, outrebounding the Scots 25-18 in the final 20 minutes, and outscoring Macalester 18-11 in second-chance points for the game.

MLC fell to 0-2 on the season in defeat, while Macalester improved its record to 1-2 with the win.

The Knights will return to action on Friday, November 20, when they travel to Maranatha Baptist for a game scheduled to start at 7 p.m.