DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica men's basketball team tips off its season this weekend with a pair of home games, starting with Luther College (Iowa) on Saturday and then a Bridge Battle with the University of Wisconsin-Superior on Sunday at the Reif Gymnasium.
 
Where:
Reif Gymnasium
 
When:
Saturday
vs. Luther at 4 p.m.
Sunday
vs. UW-Superior at 3 p.m.
 
Watch: http://www.csssaints.com/ssn
 
Live Stats: http://www.csssaints.com/ssn
 
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/csssaints
Instagram: http://instagram.com/csssaints
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/css.saints
 
St. Scholastica Saints
Roster | 2013-14 Stats
2013-14 Record: 11-15, 8-6 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
 
The Saints won four of its final five games of the regular season, including three on the road, to make the UMAC Tournament last year, but would fall to eventual champion the University of Northwestern in the semifinals … Head Coach David Staniger enters his 15^th season guiding the Saints and will look for his first winning season since 2008-09.
 
Who's Back: The Saints return four starters and a total of 11 players from last year's squad … Three of the top four scorers return for the Saints … CSS will be led by an experienced junior class which includes Jake Naslund (Barnum, Minn./Barnum HS), who was a second team All-UMAC selection as a sophomore … Duluth-native Andrew Laughlin (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Central HS) was an honorable mention All-UMAC choice in his sophomore campaign … Mike Spoden (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids HS) and Nathan Carlson (Alvarado, Minn./East Grand Forks HS) will lead the interior for the Saints … CSS has an athletic backcourt with senior LaMonte Hall (Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle HS (Saint Mary’s)), junior Tyler Rosenberger (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake HS) and sophomore Julius Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn./Henry Sibley HS)
 
Who's Gone: The Saints lost senior Steve Golobich (Mountain Iron, Minn./Mountain Iron-Buhl HS (Mesabi Range CC)), who averaged nearly 20 minutes per game and 5.8 points per contest … Trevor Morlock (Rogers, Minn./Rogers HS (Minn., Crookston)) led the team with 13 points per game, but did not play down the stretch for the Saints
 
Newcomers: Coach Staniger brought in three freshman this season … The freshman group includes Esko's Marc Peterson (Esko, Minn./Esko HS), Hayward's Joe Stark (Hayward, Wis./Hayward HS) and Upsala's Dylan Zimmerman (Elmdale, Minn./Upsala HS) … Peterson was a member of the 2014 State Championship team.
 
Must Improve FT Shooting: The Saints had their worst free throw percentage in program history last season as they shot 64 percent for the year and made only 10.8 free throws per game.
 
Season Opener Woes: The Saints are looking to snap a five-game losing streak in season openers … The last season-opening victory came in 2008, which was a double overtime win at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.
 
Block Party: St. Scholastica led the conference with 3.6 blocks per game in league games last season
 
Final Year as Non-Conference Foes: The Saints and Yellowjackets have the potential to play each other three times in the first three weeks of the season … This will be UWS' final year in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) as the 'jackets join the UMAC next year.
 
Series History: This will be the second-ever meeting between the Saints and Norse … The first meeting came in 2009 in Aberdeen, S.D. with Luther winning 60-58 … CSS is 11-32 all-time against UW-Superior … The Yellowjackets have won 10 of the last 11 meetings.
 
Top 5 Games to Watch
11/16 – vs. UW-Superior
UWS makes its final visit to the Reif as a non-conference opponent.
12/29 – at St. Norbert
The Green Knights have made the NCAA Division III Tournament four of the last five seasons.
1/16 – vs. Northwestern
The Eagles are picked to win the UMAC this season and have won four of the last five regular season titles and four straight tournament crowns.
2/6 – vs. Minnesota Morris
Expect this game to have big implications when it comes to UMAC Tournament positioning.
2/20 – vs. Bethany Lutheran
The last time the Vikings made the trip to Duluth, the Saints prevailed in overtime in a game that featured 17 lead changes.
 
UMAC Preseason Poll
1. 49 Points – University of Northwestern (7 First Place Votes)
2. 42 Points – College of St. Scholastica
3. 35 Points – University of Minnesota Morris (1)
4. 32 Points – North Central University
5. 19 Points – Bethany Lutheran College
6. 17 Points – Northland College
7. 16 Points – Martin Luther College
8. 14 Points – Crown College
 
Opponent this Weekend
Luther College Norse
The Norse finished 17-11 last season, including 7-7 in conference play to get the last spot into the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) Tournament … Luther made it could when they got in, defeating third-seeded Loras College and then second-seeded University of Dubuque before falling to Central College by four points in the championship game … Luther will have to replace departed senior John Androus, who was a First Team All-IIAC selection last year and the 2012-13 IIAC Defensive Player of the Year … The Norse do return second team All-IIAC selection Jake Martin … In Martin's first year with the Norse, he ranked third in rebounding (8.0) and ninth in scoring (14.3) … Luther went 10-4 in non-conference games last season.
 
UW-Superior Yellowjackets
The Yellowjackets finished 7-18 last season, including 4-12 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) … UWS will have to replace graduated seniors Jarrod Peterson and Bronson Byrne, who were honorable mention All-WIAC choices a season ago … Peterson averaged 20.3 points per game last season, while Byrne averaged 11.1 per game … Those were the only two 'jackets to average in double figures … Look for Brian Lindblom and Zach Schradle to be go to players for UWS this season.