Box Score

DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Scholastica men's basketball team took a nine-point lead into halftime and held strong through the second half, defeating Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) rival Martin Luther College by a 79-69 final at the Reif Gymnasium on Saturday evening.

The Saints improve to 4-9 on the season (2-1 UMAC) while the Knights remain winless on the season at 0-11 (0-3 UMAC).

The Knights jumped out to a five-point lead in the game's first five minutes, but hot first-half shooting by #Derek Anderson# and #Brett Tester# chipped away at the lead to put the Saints ahead by two at the 12-minute mark, a lead the Saints relinquished just once for the rest of the game.

The Knights pulled ahead by one with 6:35 remaining in the half, but a layup by #Nick Biedakiewicz# just 19 seconds later put the Saints in front for good.

At halftime, Anderson and Tester had combined for 22 of the Saints' 40 points.

Trailing by as many as 11 points in the second half, the Knights were only able to cut the Saints' lead down to four before late free throws put the Saints ahead by the final scoring margin of 10.

Anderson continued his hot shooting in the second half to finish with a game-high 24. Tester finished with 17 points as well as a team-high eight rebounds.

#Danny Schmitz# and #Sean Mayberry# also hit double figures scoring for the Saints on the night. Schmitz had 11 points while adding six assists, while Mayberry contributed 10 points off the bench.

Greg Holzhueter led Martin Luther with 17 points as well as 10 assists and was one of three Knights that reached double figures scoring on the night. Julian Eternick and Galen Holzhueter each scored 14 for Martin Luther. Josh Danell had six rebounds off the bench to lead the Knights.

The Saints will be at home again on Tuesday for their final non-conference game of the season when they host Finlandia University (Mich.). The tip-off is scheduled for approximately 7:30 p.m., following the women's game. All of the action can be seen live, courtesy of the iFan Sports Network, at csssaints.com.