Box Score NEW ULM, Minn. (csssaints.com) - The St. Scholastica men's basketball team was unable to hold off a sound Martin Luther squad and dropped its first Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) contest by a score of 83-77 Friday night on the campus of Martin Luther.

The Saints and Knights battled throughout the first half, with the Saints taking the early advantage for the first few minutes until Martin Luther was able to jump out to a nine point lead in the middle of the first half. 

The Saints would crawl back to tie the game at the 1:21 mark and would finish out the half on a 4-0 run en route to a 42-40 lead at the break.

The second half was much of the same as the Saints were able to get a ten point lead, 53-43, at the 15:27 mark.  The Knights fought back to regain the lead for good at the 6:14 mark.  The Saints were unable to convert any late game comeback and would fall 83-77.

Martin Luther (2-13, 1-2 UMAC) was led by Luke Rothe with 24 points.  Galen Holzhueter added 20 points and 13 rebounds.  Two other Knight players reached double digits.

The Knights would finish the game shooting 44-percent from the field, 44-percent from beyond the arc, and 72-percent from the free-throw line.  The Knights would grab 39 total rebounds and only commit six turnovers.

CSS was led by Jonah Dahlman (Braham, Minn./Braham HS) with 15 points and eight assists.  Brett Tester (Andover, Minn./Andover HS) added 14 points while Cole Mortel (Luck, Wis./Luck HS) chipped in 12 points.

The Saints finished the game shooting 46-percent from the field, 31-percent from beyond the arc, and 56-percent from the free-throw line.  CSS would grab 41 rebounds and commit 14 turnovers.

St. Scholastica (5-10, 3-1 UMAC) will travel to Bethany Lutheran tomorrow afternoon to face the Vikings in a UMAC matchup.  Tip is scheduled for 5 p.m. local time.  Tune into csssaints.com for updates from the game.