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There will be a new UMAC postseason tournament champion in 2008 as the Saints, the two-time defending tournament champion, dropped a 79-72 overtime decision to Martin Luther College on Friday afternoon in St. Paul, Minn.
St. Scholastica (11-15, 9-5 UMAC) went to the locker room at intermission with a 31-30 lead over Martin Luther (13-12. 9-5) who rode an eight-game win streak into the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference tournament hosted by top seed Northwestern College.
The first half lead see-sawed back and fourth six times and was tied six more in the rubber match between the two teams. On back to back weekends in the middle of the conference slate the Saints ran away to a home win while Martin Luther bounced back for the win on their home court the following weekend.
The second half mimicked the first with neither team able to break away. Late in the half the Knights held a 67-65 lead but Jesse Taylor (Superior, Wis./Maranatha Academy)'s two free throws with 25 ticks to play knotted the score a 10th time. Neither team scored in the final seconds and with the final buzzer the two teams that finished tied at 9-5 in the UMAC regular season had to move into the 5-minute OT tied at 67-67.
Martin Luther scored first in the OT but Akente Ward (Milwaukee, Wis./St. Francis HS)'s layup for the Saints tied things for the 11th time.
The roof fell in on the Saints the rest of the way as the Knights went on a 6-0 run to pull ahead 75-69. Troy Miller (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater HS)'s 3-point field goal made the score 75-62 but the Saints would go 0-for-6 from the floor over the final 1:21, ending their season and having to turn over the conference title to a new UMAC team.
Seniors Andy Schmitz and Brady Zubke (Laporte, Minn./Park Rapids Area HS) led the Saints in scoring in the loss, each with 16 points in their final game draped in a St. Scholastica uniform.
Aaron Schultz led Martin Luther with 22 points in the winning effort while Nathan Nass added another 21. Brian Gephart registered a double-double with 14 points and 16 rebounds.
The victory moves the Knights into the conference tournament final on Saturday night at 6 p.m. in St. Paul where they will face the winner of the Northwestern versus Bethany Lutheran College game played at 8 p.m. on Friday night.
