Box Score Box Score
MORRIS, Minn. – The St. Scholastica men's basketball team dropped its second consecutive conference game with an 84-74 loss today at the University of Minnesota-Morris.
The Saints drop to 4-9 overall and are now 2-2 in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) action. The Cougars improve to 3-6 overall and 3-1 in the conference. The Saints are 8-9 all-time against Minnesota-Morris.
For the second consecutive night, the Saints got off to a slow shooting start with a field goal percentage of 25-percent in the first half, making only six field goals. #Kyle Allen# (Sr.-Black River Falls, Wis.) hit two free throw to give the Saints a 2-0 lead, but the Cougars then went on a 10-0 run. With Morris up 10 halfway through the first half, the Saints went on a 6-0 run with #Max Dibrell# (Jr.-Duluth, Minn./East) scoring four of the points to cut the lead to 15-11. Later in the first half, the Cougars went on an 11-0 run and led at halftime 34-19.
The lead remained in double-figures for the first six minutes of the second half, until the Saints started chipping away. A #Bryan Johnson# (Fr.-Randolph, Wis.) jumper cut the lead to three with 11 minutes left. Both teams then exchanged 3-pointers, but the Cougars stretched the lead back to 10 with 7:28 left to play. CSS only got as close as seven the rest of the way as the Cougars went on to win 84-74.
St. Scholastica shot 39-percent for the game, but was 24-for-28 from the free throw line. The Cougars shot 43-percent for the game and out-scored CSS 28-6 on points off turnovers. The Cougars also had a 36-20 advantage in the paint.
The Saints had four players score in double-figures. #Troy Miller# (Sr.-Stillwater, Minn.) finished with a double-double with a team-high 17 points and 10 rebounds. #Jesse Taylor# (Sr.-Superior, Wis./Maranatha Academy) had 13 points and #Danny Schmitz# (So.-Hinckley, Minn./Hinckley-Finlayson) and Kyle Allen (Black River Falls, Wis./Black River Falls HS) each had 10 points. Kendall Proell had 21 points to lead the Cougars.
The Saints will host Finlandia University (Mich.) on Tuesday night at Reif Gym. The game is scheduled to begin at approximately 7:30 p.m., following the women's game.
