DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Scholastica men's and women's basketball teams will be on the road in southern Minnesota for a weekend of games at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato and Martin Luther College in New Ulm.

Game Times:
Friday @ Bethany Lutheran:
Women – 5:30 p.m.
Men – 7:30 p.m.
Saturday @ Martin Luther:
Women – 3 p.m.
Men – 5 p.m.

GameDay Media:
Bethany Lutheran: Men's Live Stats | Women's Live Stats | Live Video
Martin Luther: Live Video


Men's Basketball

Last Action: 
The Saints opened UMAC play with a win at home by defeating Northland College 84-78 on Tuesday night.  Brett Tester (Andover, Minn./Andover HS) had a career high 30 points in the victory.

St. Scholastica Saints (4-8, 1-0 UMAC)
After starting the season 0-6, the Saints have won four out of their last six games, including a current three game winning streak to turn their season around … The play of Chris Hamers (Onamia, Minn./Onamia HS) and Tester has been a big reason for the turnaround as they have averaged 23.3 and 19.0 points per game (ppg) respectively during the streak … Tester leads the team in scoring and rebounding for the season averaging 17.8 ppg and 6.8 rebounds per game (rpg) … Hamers is the only other player averaging double figures in points with 14.1 ppg … Hamers leads the team in 3-point shooting as well shooting 39.5% from beyond the arc on 114 attempts … Jonah Dahlman (Braham, Minn./Braham HS) is tops on the team in the assist category averaging 4.1 per game and MarShaan Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn./Minneapolis North HS (Minneapolis Comm. & Tech. College)) leads the team in blocks with 1.6/game.

Bethany Lutheran Vikings (3-9, 1-0 UMAC)
The Vikings have found confidence after defeating Martin Luther by 27 points to open conference play on Tuesday, following a three-game losing streak … The Vikings are guided by new head coach David Balza and are picked to finish second in the conference this season, receiving one first-place vote … Alex Weldon is the only player averaging double figures in points for BLC with 16.8/game … Leading the way in both rebounding and assists for the Vikings is Patrick Garvin with 5.4 rpg and 3.7 assists per game (apg) … Gavin Kroehler leads the team with 10 blocks on a Vikings squad that leads the conference with 3.1 blocks per game (bpg).

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Bethany Lutheran: 8-9)
The last meeting between the two teams was last February in Mankato where the Vikings came out victorious 79-65 over CSS.  Tester led the way for the Saints in that game with 15 points.

Trivia: The Vikings (+3.33) and Saints (+.25) are the only two teams in the UMAC with a positive turnover margin this season. 

Martin Luther Knights (0-10, 0-1 UMAC)
The Knights have had a less than ideal start to their season losing their first 10 games by an average of 22 ppg … The Knights hope to have the turnaround they did last year when they dropped their first 11 games before winning five of their next six and eventually making the UMAC Tournament … The Knights are picked to finish fifth in the conference this season … Conference leading scorer Galen Holzhueter is by far the best scorer on the team this season averaging 20.0 ppg, while the next closest in scoring is Justin Danell with 7.8 ppg … Danell leads the team in rebounding with 7.4/game while Joe Lindloff is the team's assist leader averaging 2.8 apg … One bright spot for the Knights is their performance at the free throw line, shooting a conference best 74% from the charity stripe as a team … The Knights will host Northland College on Friday before playing the Saints Saturday.

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Martin Luther: 30-17)
The Saints and Knights went into overtime last February in New Ulm where the Knights came out on top 92-85.   

 
Women's Basketball

Last Action:
The Saints opened 2012 and conference play with a win on Tuesday night defeating Northland College 61-57.  Three players scored in double figures for the Saints in the victory.

St. Scholastica Saints (3-9, 1-0 UMAC)
The Saints ended a three-game losing streak with a win over Northland College and have now won three out of their last six after starting the season 0-6 … CSS looks to take the momentum from the win in the opener deep into conference play … Last year's UMAC Freshman of the Year Kayla Heisler (Remer, Minn./Northland HS) leads the team in scoring with 11.7 ppg, while freshman Mariah Hovick (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake HS) is making a Freshman of the Year bid of her own with 10.6 ppg … Hovick also leads the team in assists and steals with 2.6 apg and 3.25 steals per game (spg) … Senior captain Laura Amys (South Range, Wis./Superior HS) leads the team in blocks averaging 1.9 bpg … The Saints also lead the conference averaging 11.7 spg.

Bethany Lutheran Vikings (1-11, 0-1 UMAC)
The Vikings haven't had the start they were looking for this season with their lone win coming at home against Waldorf College in mid-December … BLC and the Saints received the same amount of points in the UMAC preseason coaches poll as both were picked to finish fifth … The Vikings have two players averaging double figures in scoring in team leader Jessica Englund with 15.9 ppg and Anna Cepek with 11.1 ppg … Englund also leads the team and conference in rebounding with 11.5/game and blocked shots with 2.0/game … Bethany leads the conference averaging 43.1 rpg and the team is tied with Martin Luther atop the conference averaging 3.4 bpg … The Vikings have the only positive rebounding margin in the conference at +1.3. 

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Bethany Lutheran: 10-4)
The Saints completed a season sweep of the Vikings last February when they defeated BLC 70-61 in Mankato. 

Martin Luther Knights (6-5, 1-0 UMAC)
The Knights snapped a two-game skid with a win to open conference play over rival Bethany Lutheran College on Tuesday night … The Knights are now the only team in the UMAC with a winning record overall at 6-5 … MLC has been picked to finish third in the conference … The Knights have three players averaging double figures in scoring, including the team leader Erica Babinec who averages 16.1 ppg … Amanda Burk and Alex Anthon average 12.5/game and 11.5/game respectively … Burk also leads the team in rebounding with 8.1 rpg … Martin Luther is the best scoring team in the conference scoring 65.5 ppg and the team is tied with Bethany Lutheran atop the UMAC with 3.4 bpg … The Knights will host Northland College on Friday before playing the Saints.

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Martin Luther: 37-14)
The Knights held off the Saints in New Ulm last February with a 73-62 win despite the Saints dominating the boards winning the rebounding battle 55-34.