The men’s basketball lost its home opener against NAIA No. 15-ranked MidAmerica Nazarene University (MNU) 99-97 before an enthusiastic Mabee Gymnasium. The Saints drop to 1-3, while MNU improves to 6-0. Head Coach Ryan Wall said, “The kids played hard, but we made some mental mistakes and the ball just wasn’t falling in for us when we needed it to. But MidAmerica is a good team with a coach who will be in the Hall of Fame one day.  The game was a good practice for us to get ready for conference.” Saints’ senior captain Marcus Thompson scored a career-high 21 points, including 8-of-12 from the field and 5-of-5 from the free throw line. He added eight rebounds, eight assists and two steals. Xavier Roberson scored 29 points consisting of 8-of-12 field goals, 4-of-7 field goals and 9-of-12 free throws. Dylan Elias scored 20 points for the Saints to include 8-of-14 from the field and 4-of-9 from 3-point range. The Saints committed 12 turnovers while forcing 23.

The Saints will return to Mabee Gym next Friday and Saturday to host their third annual Halo Classic. On Nov. 22, Northwood University will face the University of St. Thomas at 5:30 p.m. At 7:30 p.m., the Saints will play Texas Wesleyan University. On Nov. 23, St. Thomas will play Texas Wesleyan and at 4 p.m., the Saints will play Northwood. Read more online.