Box Score DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica men's basketball team overcame a poor shooting first half and tough defense in the waning moments propelled the Saints to a 72-71 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) victory over a pesky Northland College team Tuesday night at the Reif Gymnasium.

The opening minutes saw Mike Spoden (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids HS) score two right handed hook shots to put the Saints up 5-2.  Northland was able to capture the lead back at the 14:20 mark off of a 3-pointer. 

The Saints struggled from the floor and from the free-throw for a six minute span and found themselves trailing 25-13 with about seven minutes remaining the half. 

The Saints chipped into the lead and finished the half trailing 34-27.  CSS had a poor half shooting the ball, going 37-percent from the field and 42-percent from the free-throw line.  The 'Jacks finished shooting 52-percent from the field and 54-percent from downtown in the first frame.

The second half was full of back-and-forth action as the Saints chipped into the lead one basket at a time.  The 'Jacks and Saints traded scores until the 10:08 mark when the Saints took the final lead change of the game off of a Brett Tester (Andover, Minn./Andover HS) free-throw. 

The Saints would lead by five for most of the remainder of the game until Northland went on a 4-0 run in the final minute.  Tester would miss a lay-up for a potential three point lead and the 'Jacks would rebound and hold for the game-winning shot.

On the final defensive possession of the game, Derek Steve (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Apollo HS) played superb defense on the guard forcing the player to make a step-back fade-away 3-pointer which was well short, allowing the Saints to escape with the 72-71 win.

Northland (2-16, 1-7 UMAC) was led by Adrian Flores with 20 points and 10 rebounds.  Two other 'Jacks players finished with 16 points.

The 'Jacks finished the game shooting 46-percent from the field, 45-percent from beyond the arc and 81-percent from the free-throw line.  Northland had only six offensive rebounds and committed 13 turnovers.  They held a 12 point lead in the first half.

CSS was led by Tester with 12 points and eight boards.  MarShaan Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn./Minneapolis North HS (Minneapolis Comm. & Tech. College)) added 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting while Trevor Morlock (Rogers, Minn./Rogers HS (Minn., Crookston)) and Jonah Dahlman (Braham, Minn./Braham HS) chipped in 10 points.

The Saints finished the game shooting 46-percent from the field, 23-percent from beyond the arc, and 61-percent from the charity stripe.  CSS would win the rebound battle 36-29 and commit only nine turnovers.  The Saints' largest lead was five points.

St. Scholastica (6-13, 4-4 UMAC) will host Bethany Lutheran College this Friday and Martin Luther College on Saturday.  The Saints will also hold their annual Alumni Game on Saturday as well.  Friday's contest is scheduled to start at 7:30 in the Reif Gymnasium.  Tune into csssaints.com for live broadcast of the game.