Box Score DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica men's basketball team walked away from Senior Night Saturday against the University of Minnesota Morris with a tough 84-69 loss.

After the Saints took an 8-6 lead, Morris answered with a 9-0 run to go up seven with 12:24 left in the half. CSS countered that by scoring 13 of the next 15 points, thanks to eight points from Jake Naslund (Barnum, Minn./Barnum HS).

The Cougars used a 12-2 run to regain the lead at 34-27 with 2:20 left in the half. However, at the end of the half, the momentum was on the Saints' side as lone senior Steve Golobich (Mountain Iron, Minn./Mountain Iron-Buhl HS (Mesabi Range CC)) grabbed Morris miss in the lane and heaved it over three-quarters court as the buzzer sounded and banked it in to make it 36-33 Morris at the half.

Naslund dominated the half from beyond the arc going 5-for-6 and ended with 19 points. Neil Helgeson led for the Cougars with 13 points. Both teams shot around 50 percent from the floor in the first half. The Cougars out-rebounded the Saints for the half 18-to-11. The Cougars had a 16-6 edge in the paint.

Garret Pearson (Rush City, Minn./Rush City HS) and Julius Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) put in lay-ups in the first minutes to give the Saints their last lead of the night at 37-36. At the 17:08 mark, the Cougars put on an 11-0 run over the Saints. CSS only got as close as nine the rest of the way as the Cougars went 18-for-23 from the free throw line for the half taking the game 84-69.

Naslund led the Saints with a career-high 24 points followed by LaMonte Hall (Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle HS (Saint Mary’s)) with 13. Naslund ended the game going 6-for-9 from the 3-point line. Morris would end with four players scoring in double digits all led by Helgeson with 20 points for the night. Helgeson also went 7-for-7 from the field and 4-for-4 from the 3-point line for the night.
 
The Cougars (15-8, 9-3 UMAC) shot 65 percent in the second half, while the Saints were held to 41 percent. The Cougars also out-rebounded the Saints for the night 40-to-25. 

The Saints (9-14, 6-6 UMAC) are next in action for their last two regular season games next weekend. They play North Central University Friday at 7:30 p.m. and the University of Northwestern the following day at 3 p.m.