Box Score Box Score

ST. PAUL – The St. Scholastica men's basketball team saw a 10-point second half lead disappear as Northwestern College rallied to win 87-82 in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) opener tonight.

The Saints fall to 1-4 overall, while the Eagles improve to 4-2 overall. The Eagles are 33-14 all-time against the Saints.

CSS would lead the entire first half. The margin got as high as eight after a #Brett Tester# (Fr.-Andover, Minn.) lay-up with 13 minutes to go in the half. The Saints took a 34-28 lead into the locker room.

St. Scholastica shot 61-percent in the first half and was 4-for-7 on 3-point attempts. Northwestern shot 38-percent.

A #Bryan Johnson# (So.-Randolph, Wis.) 3-pointer with 13:27 seconds left in the game gave CSS its biggest lead of the night at 53-43. The Eagles responded by scoring the next six points to cut the lead to four. Northwestern eventually tied the game with eight minutes to go.

The contest went back-and-forth over the next three minutes, but the Saints never lost the lead. However, the Eagles took their first lead of the night with 5:06 left. CSS had a one-point lead with two minutes to go and after two missed Northwestern free throws, the Saints gave up two offensive rebounds and put the Eagles back on the line.

The Eagles then hit both free throws to take the lead for good. The Saints had a look at a 3-pointer to tie the game, but it was off the mark and the Eagles took the conference opener 87-82.

The Saints shot 65-percent in the loss and made seven, 3-pointers. CSS's downfall was 7-for-13 from the free throw line and was out-rebounded 36-28. Northwestern had 17 offensive rebounds. The Eagles shot 48-percent for the game.

Brett Tester (Andover, Minn./Andover HS) had a season-high 20 points to lead St. Scholastica. Bryan Johnson (Randolph, Wis./Randolph HS) had a career-high 19 points off the bench, going 5-for-6 on 3-point attempts. #Danny Schmitz# (Jr.-Hinckley, Minn./Hinckley-Finlayson) also had a season-high 16 points. Tom Gisler had 16 points off the bench to lead the Eagles.

The Saints will go over to Crown College tomorrow to face the Storm. The tip-off for that contest is approximately 5 p.m., following the women's contest.