DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Scholastica men's and women's basketball teams will be home for the last time during the regular season this weekend as they will both face off against their respective top teams in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) in Martin Luther College and Bethany Lutheran College.

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

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


Men's Basketball

Last Action: 
The Saints split a weekend series in the cities this past weekend against Northwestern College and Crown College. CSS won on Saturday vs. Crown 78-74. Brett Tester (Andover, Minn./Andover HS) had 29 points and 10 rebounds and Chris Hamers (Onamia, Minn./Onamia HS) scored 29.

St. Scholastica Saints (11-10, 8-2 UMAC)
The play of Tester and Hamers has been a big reason the Saints have been successful in conference play as they are averaging 20.4 and 15.1 points per game (ppg), respectively, during these last 10 games … The duo combined for 84 points this past weekend  … Tester leads the team in scoring and rebounding for the season, averaging 18.5 ppg and 7.6 rebounds per game (rpg) … Tester has been named UMAC Player of the Week three times this season … Hamers is the only other player averaging double figures in points with 14.2 ppg … Hamers leads the team in 3-point shooting as well, shooting 41-percent from beyond the arc on 186 attempts and is sixth in the nation with 3.6, 3-pointers per game …Hamers, along with fellow senior David Walsh (Melbourne, Australia/St. Kevin’s HS (Vermilion CC)) will be playing their final regular season games at Reif Gym this weekend …  Jonah Dahlman (Braham, Minn./Braham HS) is tops on the team in the assist category averaging 4.3 per game … MarShaan Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn./Minneapolis North HS (Minneapolis Comm. & Tech. College)) leads the team in blocks with 1.4/game … The Saints have won eight straight in the Reif since a 79-53 loss to Division II team Minnesota-Crookston in late November … The Saints have already clinched a UMAC tournament spot.

Martin Luther Knights (1-19, 1-11 UMAC)
After dropping their first 19 games the Knights got in the win column this past weekend as they defeated Presentation 73-69 … The Knights will not be able to match the turnaround they had last year when they dropped their first 11 games before winning five of their next six and eventually making the UMAC Tournament … Conference leading scorer Galen Holzhueter is by far the best scorer on the team this season averaging 18.9 ppg, while the next closest in scoring is Justin Danell with 9.5 ppg … Danell leads the team in rebounding with 7.2/game while Joe Lindloff is the team's assist leader averaging 3.0 apg … The Knights are being outscored by an average of just under 18 points per game … Martin Luther averages the fewest points in the conference (62.0) and has the lowest field goal percentage (.377).

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Martin Luther: 31-17)
The Saints defeated the Knights 69-61 to pick up their second conference win. Tester had a double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Hamers also put up 20 points for the Saints. 

Bethany Lutheran Vikings (12-9, 10-0 UMAC)
The Vikings have not lost in the 2012 calendar year as they are riding a 10-game winning streak, all of which have come in UMAC games … The Vikings are guided by new head coach David Balza and were picked to finish second in the conference this season, receiving one first-place vote … Alex Weldon is the leading scorer with 15.3 points per game … Gavin Kroehler and Derek Peterson are also scoring in double figures with 12.6 and 11.2, respectively… Leading the way in both rebounding and assists for the Vikings is Patrick Garvin with 5.6 rpg and 3.7 assists per game (apg) … Gavin Kroehler leads the team with 21 blocks on a Vikings squad that leads the conference with 3.0 blocks per game (bpg) … Bethany Lutheran also leads the conference in free throw percentage (.735), field goal percentage defense (.434) and turnover margin (+3.05) … The Vikings have not lost to the Saints since the infamous UMAC Tournament championship game in 2009, where Hamers scored 15 points in the final 5:26 to lead the Saints to a come-from-behind victory.

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Bethany Lutheran: 8-10)
The Saints fell to the Vikings in Mankato earlier this season by a score of 65-58. The Vikings never trailed in the contest. Tester led the Saints with 18 points, while Dahlman had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.


Women's Basketball



Last Action:
The Saints won both games this past weekend as they faced off against Northwestern College and Crown College to pick up two critical UMAC wins.

St. Scholastica Saints (9-12, 7-3 UMAC)
The Saints have won six of nine and are 6-1 at home as they look to finish out the regular season home schedule with two wins …The Saints currently sit in third place in the conference with the conference leader, Martin Luther, coming to town on Friday … The Saints have a two-game lead over fourth and fifth place as they look to return to the UMAC Tournament … No player has scored over 20 points in a game this year as Mariah Hovick (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake HS) and Kayla Heisler (Remer, Minn./Northland HS) are leading the way in scoring this year with 11.8 and 10.8 points per game … Hovick also leads the team in assists and steals with 2.8 apg and 2.7 steals per game (spg) … The Saints also lead the conference averaging 12 spg … CSS is ranked 39th in NCAA Division III in 3-point percentage (.338) … Senior captain Laura Amys (South Range, Wis./Superior HS) leads the team and the conference in blocks, averaging 2 bpg … In their nine victories this season, the Saints have out-rebounded teams, but have been out-rebounded in all of their 12 losses … Amys leads the way in that column bringing down 6.9 per game … Amys, along with fellow senior Taylor Fellbaum (Minong, Wis./Northwood HS), will be playing their final regular season home games at Reif Gym … CSS is scoring 64.1 points per game, while giving up 65.3 per game on defense.

Martin Luther Knights (15-6, 9-1 UMAC)
The Knights set a school record with their 15th win of the season this past weekend ... MLC has won nine of 10 in UMAC play to be seated at the top of the conference … The Knights are one of two teams, with Minnesota-Morris,  in the UMAC with a winning record overall at 15-6 … The Knights have two players averaging double figures in scoring, including the team leader Erica Babinec who averages 15.9 ppg … Amanda Burk is averaging 12.9/game and Alex Anthon is flirting with double digits at 9.9/game … Burk also leads the team in rebounding with 8.4 rpg and leads the UMAC, making 49-percent of her field goal attempts … Martin Luther is solid on the defensive end, leading the conference in field goal percentage defense (.368) and in blocks with 4.0 per game.

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Martin Luther: 37-15)
The Knights held off the Saints in New Ulm earlier this season and used a strong second half to win 65-50. Hovick led the way with 12 points and six rebounds.  

Bethany Lutheran Vikings (6-15, 5-5 UMAC)
The Vikings are sitting at 5-5 currently and are tied for the final tournament spot … 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 three players averaging double figures in scoring in team leader Jessica Englund with 16.7 ppg, Jade Pelzl with 11.5 and Anna Cepek with 10.2 ppg … Englund also leads the team and conference in rebounding with 11.2/game … Englund has seven double-doubles this season, which is seventh in the nation … Bethany leads the conference averaging 45.4 rpg … The Vikings have the highest positive rebounding margin in the conference at +6.7. 

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Bethany Lutheran: 10-5)
The Saints fell in a close one in Mankato earlier this season 68-59. Caitlin McKernon (Coon Rapids, Minn./Fridley HS) had a strong game with a career-high 18 points.