Box Score Box Score
ST. PAUL – The St. Scholastica men's basketball team capped off a season sweep of Northwestern College today with a 71-62 victory at the Ericksen Center.
The Saints improve to 13-10 overall and 9-3 in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference. The seven consecutive wins are the most since the 2005-06 season. The Eagles fall to 17-6 overall and 9-3 in the UMAC. The Saints own the tiebreaker over the Eagles, so if the season ended today CSS would have a first round bye in the UMAC Postseason Tournament and be the No. 2 seed.
Northwestern drained back-to-back 3-pointers to begin the game and jumped out to a 10-2 lead. A little bit later a #Danny Schmitz# (
So.-Hinckley, Minn./Hinckley-Finlayson) 3-pointer and a #Kyle Allen# (
Sr.-Black River Falls, Wis.) 3-point-play tied the contest up at 13-13 with 13 minutes to go in the first half. A #Mike MacDonald# (
Sr.-Two Harbors, Minn.) lay-up halfway through the half gave the Saints their first lead at 20-18. The rest of the half would be tight as the teams went into the locker room tied 36-36.
There were six ties and six lead changes in the first half. CSS shot 58-percent and was 7-for-9 from beyond the arc. Northwestern shot 64-percent and was 6-for-8 on 3-point attempts.
The tightly contested game continued into the second half as both squads exchanged baskets for the first eight minutes. St. Scholastica then went on a game-changing 13-0 run to take a 60-47 lead with nine minutes to go. The Eagles only got as close as eight the rest of the way as the Saints went on to win 71-62.
CSS shot 52-percent for the game and held the Eagles to just 25-percent shooting in the second half. The Saints connected on 11, 3-point field goals and were 12-for-14 from the free throw line. After both benches contributed equally in the first half, but it was CSS's bench that outscored Northwestern's bench 14-0 in the second half.
The Saints had four players score in double-figures with
Danny Schmitz (Hinckley, Minn./Hinckley-Finlayson HS) and #Chris Hamers# (
So.-Onamia, Minn.) scoring 13 points apiece. #Bryan Johnson# (
Fr.-Randolph, Wis.) and #Jesse Taylor# (
Sr.-Superior, Wis./Maranatha Academy) each had 11 points.
Kyle Allen (Black River Falls, Wis./Black River Falls HS) had a team-high seven rebounds. Stephen Hanson had 16 points to lead the Eagles.
The Saints return home for their final two regular season home games of the season next weekend. On Friday, CSS will host Bethany Lutheran College at Reif Gym at approximately 7:30 p.m., following the women's game.
