Notables -This marks the second year in a row that CSS has lost to Northwestern in the UMAC semifinals-The Saints had three players score in double figures-CSS did not shoot a free throw in the entire second half
-Northwestern scored seven points off of five CSS turnovers in overtime
ST. PAUL, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica men's basketball team fell to top-seeded University of Northwestern 74-70 in overtime to end its season in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament Semifinals Wednesday night.
The game started with each team trading baskets with Northwestern having the slight lead at 9-7 with 16:14 to go in the half.
The Eagles would then jump out to an eight point lead on an 8-2 run over the next 3:30 to take a 17-9 lead with 12:47 remaining.
Northwestern would maintain its single digit lead for the majority of rest of the half. CSS would get as close as four points when
Zach Dahlman (Braham, Minn./Braham HS) made a 3-pointer to make the score 28-24 with 5:35 left in the half, but the Eagles would finish the half on a 14-9 run to go into the halftime locker room up by 10 points at 43-33.
CSS would fight hard in the second half, slowly eating into the Northwestern lead. They finally tied up the game with 10:48 left at 51-51 after
Jake Naslund (Barnum, Minn./Barnum HS) made a layup in the lane.
The Saints would never lead in the second half, but every time the Eagles took a small lead CSS would answer right back to tie the game back up. This happened three more times in the half, the last time being an emphatic putback dunk by
Mike Spoden (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids HS) with just 19 seconds to go to tie the game again at 61-61.
Northwestern had a chance to take a lead at the end of the game, but their 3-point shot was off the mark and the second half horn sounded with the score still tied at 61 with an overtime period needed to decide who would move on to the UMAC championship.
The Saints would take their first lead in the entire game to kick off the overtime period off of a
Julius Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) layup to set the score at 63-61 with 3:37 left in the five minute period.
Northwestern would quickly answer back with six straight points and reclaim the lead which it would hold for the remainder of the overtime period. CSS did manage to cut the lead to two points with a
Joe Stark (Hayward, Wis./Hayward HS) layup with 12 seconds left, but the Eagles would ice the game with free throws and escape with a four point victory over CSS 74-70.
Andrew Laughlin (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Central HS) finished the game with a double-double scoring 16 points and tallying 10 rebounds while Naslund led the Saints in scoring with 17 points. Dahlman added 13 of his own to round out the double digit scorers for the Saints. Caleb Janson had 22 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Eagles.
Northwestern (17-9) moves on to face the University of Minnesota Morris in the UMAC Championship Saturday night.
CSS closes out the season with a 12-14 record overall. For future news on the St. Scholastica men's basketball program, keep checking csssaints.com.
