NEW ULM, Minn. - The Martin Luther College men's basketball team lost its game against Macalester College 80-64 Monday night.

The Knights started strong, leading the Scots 25-18 with 7:23 to play in the first half.

The Scots took control from there, outscoring MLC 14-4 to end the first half, and then opening the second half with a 9-2 run to build their lead into double digits.

MLC hung within striking distance, but were unable to string together enough on the offensive run to cut the deficit closer than eight points the rest of the way.

MLC controlled the paint, outscoring the Scots 36-16, but lost the battle beyond the arc as Macalester made 10 of 30 attempts, while MLC shot 5-22. The Knights also struggled from the free throw line, going 9-17 compared the Scots' 18-20 from the charity stripe.

Luke Rothe led Knights with 16 points off the bench, giving him 1,010 points for his career. He is the 11th MLC men's basketball player to reach the 1,000 career points milestone.

Phil Bunkowske also had a strong night off the bench with ten points, while Ian Paulsen led the starters with eight points to go with eight rebounds.

MLC fell to 1-4 on the season in defeat, while Macalester improved its record to 4-1.

The Knights will return to action on Saturday, December 3, when they open conference play with a game against Bethany Lutheran. That game is schedule to tip off at 5 p.m.