Coming into Saturday afternoon's game at St. Scholastica, Upper Midwest Athletic Conference co-leader Minnesota-Morris was undefeated in conference action and looking down at all but Northwestern College in the league standings.

 

St. Scholastica (6-9, 4-1 UMAC) changed the Cougars' perspective with a crushing 93-76 defeat, dropping the visitors from the top spot as the Saints pulled door-to-door with the Cougars (8-7, 4-1).

 

The lead in Saturday's match-up at the Reif Gymnasium in the Burns Wellness Commons changed back and forth eight times in the opening 13 minutes. But when Jesse Taylor (Superior, Wis./Maranatha Academy) was fouled on a layup and sank the free throw for a three point play with 6:06 to play in the opening stanza, St. Scholastica would take a 33-31 lead that they would not relinquish the rest of the game.

 

Their seven point 50-43 halftime lead grew to it's final 17 points over the final half as the Saints continued their torrid shooting from the opening half — 55 percent — by improving to 56 percent from the field.

 

In contrast, Morris hit 51 percent in the first 20 minutes but were held to only 37 percent in the closing stanza.

 

Brady Zubke (Laporte, Minn./Park Rapids Area HS) led St. Scholastica's winning efforts with 25 points and six rebounds while Troy Miller (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater HS) (17 points), Eric Langdon (Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet Senior HS) (15 points), Andrew Schmitz (Hinckley, Minn./Hinckley-Finlayson HS) (14 points), and Taylor (13 points) also hit double-figures in scoring. Miller had a team-high seven rebounds.

 

Morris' Phil Allen scored 35 of his team's 76 points in the loss as only one other scorer reached double-digits and only seven Cougars registered at least one point.

 

The win pulls the Saints into a second place tie in the league standings with Morris and keeps them only one game behind UMAC leader Northwestern.

 

**SAINTS**