Notables -This game saw eight ties and 14 lead changes including six lead changes and two ties in the last 3:02 -Freshman Marc Peterson (Esko, Minn./Esko HS) shot 3-of-5 from the three point line in his CSS debut -The Saints had three players score in double figures
DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica men's basketball team fell in its season and home opener to Luther College Saturday night by a final score of 70-66 in a game where no team led by more than nine points.
The first half saw Luther jump out to a quick 9-0 lead in just 2:14. That nine point lead would actually prove to be the biggest lead of the night for Luther. CSS would respond to Luther's 9-0 run with an 8-2 scoring run of their own to cut the Luther lead down to just three points. The Saints run was capped by a
LaMonte Hall (Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle HS (Saint Mary’s)) 3-point basket with 13:09 to go in the half.
CSS would play from behind for most of the first half, dwindling down Luther's lead to as little as one point on two different occasions. The Saints would finally take their first lead of the game when Hall made a layup to put CSS up by one point at 27-26 with 3:00 to go in the half.
Unfortunately for the Saints that would prove to be their only lead of the half as Luther quickly retook the lead and went into the locker room for halftime up by four points at 35-31.
The Second half saw 12 of the 14 lead changes and all eight ties in a back and forth effort by both squads. The largest lead for CSS in the entire game was just two points achieved just once when
Joe Stark (Hayward, Wis./Hayward HS) sunk two free throws to make the score 52-50 with 8:56 to go in the game.
CSS and Luther would go on to trade baskets six straight times each time trading a one point lead in a span of 1:40. The last lead for CSS in the game came when Hall put the Saints up by one with another layup with just 1:43 to go. Luther would respond with a basket of their own with 1:22 in the game to make the score 65-64.
With time winding down and CSS down by one point the Saints dribbled the ball up the floor to attempt to take the lead. However, a miscommunication led to a costly turnover and a fast break bucket for Luther to put the Saints down by three at 67-64 with just 1:09 to go in the game.
After trading misses for about 50 seconds, the Saints kicked the ball out to
Andrew Laughlin (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Central HS) who was open behind the three point line with a chance to tie up the game. Laughlin's 3-pointer rattled in and out of the rim and Luther would hold on to take the four point win after icing the game with free throws at 70-66.
Hall finished with a team high 15 points while
Jake Naslund (Barnum, Minn./Barnum HS) and Stark finished with 13 and 11 points respectively. Second chance points doomed the Saints in this one as they got outscored 11-2 in redemption points. However, they did outscore Luther in the paint as CSS scored 30 points down low to 26 from Luther.
CSS (0-1, 0-0 UMAC) will be in action again Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. as they take on their neighbors across the harbor UW-Superior at home in the Reif Gymnasium. Come support the Saints in person or catch all the action live at Saints Sports Net.
