Box Score DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Scholastica men's basketball team fell short in it's quest to beat Upper Midwest Athletic Conference leader Bethany Lutheran losing 62-49 Saturday night at the Reif Gymnasium.
The opening minutes of the game saw both teams trade basket for basket until
David Walsh (Melbourne, Australia/St. Kevin’s HS (Vermilion CC)) made two consecutive free-throws to put the Saints up three with seven minutes gone by in the game. The Vikings would take the lead for good at 10:11 mark with a three point basket from the right wing.
The Vikings and Saints would battle the rest of the half with the Saints only trailing by four in the final seconds until a foul was called on Walsh as time expired, allowing the Vikings to take a six point lead, 31-25, into halftime.
The second half was much of the same with Bethany extending its lead to 16 at the 15:36 mark. The Saints were held without a field goal until 15:17 when
Brett Tester (Andover, Minn./Andover HS) put in a lay-up from the left side.
The Saints would string together a 10-0 to come within six points with 3:40 left in the contest. The Vikings would rally and go on a 6-0 after a timeout and eventually the Saints would fall 62-49 on Senior Night.
Bethany Lutheran (14-9, 12-0 UMAC) were led by Gavin Kroehler and Alex Weldon each scoring 21 and 20 points respectively. The Vikings would finish shooting 40-percent from the field, 30-percent from beyond the arc, and 74-percent from the charity stripe. The Vikings would collect 42 rebounds and commit 14 turnovers.
With the victory, Bethany Lutheran clinches the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference.
St. Scholastica was led by Tester and
MarShaan Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn./Minneapolis North HS (Minneapolis Comm. & Tech. College)), each scoring 12 points. Johnson would grab a career-high 15 rebounds as well. Senior
Chris Hamers (Onamia, Minn./Onamia HS) would score eight points and Walsh, a senior, would score eight points as the starting point guard.
The Saints would finish the game shooting 30-percent from the field, 26-percent from beyond the arc, and 82-percent from the free throw line. The Saints would grab 34 rebounds and commit 13 total turnovers.
Up next for the Saints (12-11, 9-3 UMAC) is a road contest against Minnesota-Morris next Friday with tip time scheduled for 7:30 pm local time. Tune into csssaints.com for updates from that game.
