Box Score DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St Scholastica men's basketball team took home a thrilling win Saturday afternoon beating Bethany Lutheran College 86-84 in overtime in the Reif Gymnasium.

The Saints used a 10-0 run early with eight points coming from Trevor Morlock (Rogers, Minn./Rogers HS (Minn., Crookston)) to build a 14-5 lead four minutes into the game. The Saints held the lead until the five minute mark when a Chris Scarver 3-pointer gave the Vikings a 30-28 advantage. Bethany Lutheran ended the half ahead 40-36.

The leading scorers for the Saints in the first half were Morlock with 15 points, followed by Scottie Rucks (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral HS) and Mike Spoden (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids HS) both chipping in five points. The Vikings were led by Scarver with 15 points and Jacob Wensmann with nine. The Viking bench out-scored the CSS bench 24-8 in the first half.

The second half featured four ties and eight lead changes. The biggest lead of the half was a six-point BLC lead with 11 minutes remaining. CSS went on a 7-0 run to take a 72-68 lead with less than four minutes remaining.

Bethany Lutheran and the Saints battled the final minutes to take the lead from the other, but a pair of Tyler Rosenberger (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake HS) free throws tied the game once again with 1:36 on the clock.  Both teams had chances to break the tie late with the Saints having the final chance, but the 3-pointer was off the mark and the put back denied as the game went to overtime tied 76-76.

The Vikings won the tip leading to an easy layup to start overtime. Bethany Lutheran led by four until a clutch 3-pointer by Morlock cut it to one with 2:30 remaining. Julius Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) then pulled the Saints ahead with a steal and a layup at the 1:37 mark.

Free throws by Wensmann put Bethany ahead once more at 84-83 with 1:26 left. On the ensuing possession, Morlock grabbed the offensive rebound off the miss and gave the Saints the lead at 85-84 with less than 40 seconds left.

Bethany failed to convert on the other end and Rucks made 1-of-2 free throws to make it 86-84 with seven seconds left. The Vikings would get a look at a 3-pointer as time expired, but it was off the mark as CSS prevailed 86-84.

Morlock once again lit up the court for the Saints with 26 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Andrew Laughlin (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Central HS) had a strong finish and ended with 10 points off the bench. 10 different Saints players scored throughout the game. Wensmann and Scarver continued to lead Bethany Lutheran (3-13, 2-3 UMAC) with 28 and 26 points, respectively.

The Saints out-shot the Vikings from the field and outside the arc. CSS was 48 percent from the field and 42 percent from beyond the arc. The Vikings were 46 percent from the floor and 39 percent from 3-point land.

The Saints (6-10, 3-2 UMAC) are next in action Friday and Saturday in the Reif Gymnasium against the University of Northwestern at 7:30 p.m. and North Central University the following day at 5 p.m. Catch all the action live on Saints Sports Net.