ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Luther men's basketball team won the season opener against Macalester College 53-46. Aidan Bailey, Mikkel Schutte, and Andre Palavra chipped in nine points each. Shutte led the team with nine rebounds. 

With five minutes to play in the opening half Matthew Franzen tied the game at 15 with a layup. Then Luther went on a 10-0 run to take a 25-15 lead going into the locker room. 

The Norse momentum continued into the second half as Shutte scored on the fastbreak in the paint for a 31-15 lead at 17:24. However, Macalester clawed their way back into the game as Luther maintained a 37-36 advantage with 7:08 left in the contest. Luther didn't back down as they strung together another eight point run with Palavra, Will Bockenstedt and Charlie Wunderlich with 4:26 to go. Then with 31 seconds to play, the Scots pulled within three off a three-pointer but the Norse made their final four free throws of the night to seal the victory. 

This is the first win over the Scots since 2019. Luther scored 32 points in the paint and 23 came from the bench. 

Up Next
The Norse will travel to Waldorf University on Wednesday, Nov. 13. The game is at 7 p.m. in Forest City, Iowa.