Box Score Box Score

DULUTH, Minn. – #Danny Schmitz# (So.-Hinckley, Minn./Hinckley-Finlayson) scored a career-high 30 points to lead the St. Scholastica men's basketball team to a 91-81 victory over Martin Luther College today at Reif Gym, and in doing so, gave the Saints a share of the conference regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in next week's Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Postseason Tournament.

Martin Luther came in tonight's contest with a one-game edge over the Saints and Northwestern College. With CSS defeating the Knights, they claimed share to a conference championship and by way of the UMAC tiebreaker criteria own the No. 1-seed in the tournament and a first round bye. Northwestern lost today, so that means the Knights are the No. 2-seed and also receive a first round bye. This is the fourth time CSS has claimed at least a share of the conference regular season championship.

On Senior Day, it was senior #Troy Miller# (Sr.-Stillwater, Minn.) that got the scoring started with a 3-pointer. A #Max Dibrell# (Jr.-Duluth, Minn./East) lay-up extended the lead to 5-0. The Knights scored the next five points to tie the game. A little later in the half, the Saints went on an 8-0 run, capped off by back-to-back 3-pointers by Danny Schmitz (Hinckley, Minn./Hinckley-Finlayson HS).

The Knights responded with a 10-0 run to take their first lead at 19-18. CSS got the lead back on senior #Kyle Allen#'s (Sr.-Black River Falls, Wis.) jumper and would hold to the lead the rest of the half. The Saints went up by seven with four minutes to go after a highlight-reel alley-oop dunk by Troy Miller (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater HS) from Max Dibrell (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS). With the margin four in the final seconds of the half, Danny Schmitz (Hinckley, Minn./Hinckley-Finlayson HS) hit his fourth 3-pointer of the half as the Saints went into the locker room with a 41-34 lead.

Schmitz was 4-for-4 from beyond the arc to lead the Saints with 12 points in the half. CSS shot 50-percent from the field, while the Knights were 38-percent from the field. St. Scholastica had a 22-15 edge on the glass and its bench out-scored Martin Luther's bench 19-9 in the half.

The Knights got the lead down to two on a couple of occasions in the second half, but a Danny Schmitz (Hinckley, Minn./Hinckley-Finlayson HS) 3-pointer lengthened the lead back to five with 14 minutes to go in the half. After a Knights basket, it was Schmitz again with another three to make it a six-point lead. Schmitz then was fouled on a 3-pointer and made all of the free throws. #Chris Hamers# (So.-Onamia, Minn.) scored a lay-up on the next possession and #Mike MacDonald# (Sr.-Two Harbors, Minn.) scored the next four points to make it a 12-0 run and the score was now 64-49 with nine minutes to go.

The lead would not get below double-digits the rest of the way as CSS was 22-for-25 from the free throw line in the second half and would go on to win by a score of 91-81. The Saints shot 52-percent for the game and were 11-for-20 on 3-point attempts. The Saints also had a 40-32 edge on the glass and got 46 points from their bench.

Schmitz of course led the way with his 30 points. He was 7-for-8 on 3-point attempts and 9-for-9 from the free throw line. It is the most points scored in a game by a Saints player since Derek Johnson scored 33 against Minnesota-Morris on February 13, 2007. Troy Miller (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater HS) was the only other Saint in double-figures with 14 points. Kyle Allen (Black River Falls, Wis./Black River Falls HS) had a team-high eight rebounds for CSS. Caleb Free had 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead Martin Luther.

The Saints have won nine straight games and are just one win away from tying a school record with 10 straight victories. CSS has a record of 15-10 overall and finishes 11-3 in the conference after starting 3-3. Martin Luther finishes the regular season with a 17-8 record and also 11-3 in the conference.

The Saints will have a first round bye and will not play until Thursday when they will face the winner of the Minnesota-Morris and Presentation contest. The tip-off for that game will be 7:30 p.m. at Reif Gym.