Box Score MINNEAPOLIS (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica men's basketball team kept its postseason hopes alive with an 86-78 win over North Central University Friday night. 

The first half was tightly contested with 11 ties and eight lead changes. After the 11th tie of the half, the Rams made a couple of free throws to take the lead only to have Julius Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) sink a 3-point shot followed by a lay-up by a Mike Spoden (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids HS) to end the half and give the Saints a 35-32 halftime lead.

Andrew Laughlin (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Central HS) led the Saints in the first half with nine points followed closely by Spoden with eight.  Jordan Harrell led in scoring for the Rams at 10 points with no points coming from the bench for North Central. The CSS bench had 14 points. The Saints also had six blocked shots for the half.

The second half remained close early as there would be six lead changes in the first seven minutes. The Saints then went on a 10-0 run; thanks to eight points from Jake Naslund (Barnum, Minn./Barnum HS) to take a 58-51 lead with 13 minutes to go. That was the biggest lead for either team in the game.

The margin climbed as high as nine, but North Central responded as Josh High would tie up the score for North Central on a 3-pointer at the 5:51 mark. Steve Golobich (Mountain Iron, Minn./Mountain Iron-Buhl HS (Mesabi Range CC)) responded with a layup to take back a Saints lead. The Saints then went on a 6-0 run in the final minutes to come out ahead 86-78.

Laughlin scored a career-high 18 points to lead CSS, followed by Naslund with 16. 13 of Naslund's 16 points came in the second half. Off the bench Steve Golobich (Mountain Iron, Minn./Mountain Iron-Buhl HS (Mesabi Range CC)) with 11 points, along with LaMonte Hall (Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle HS (Saint Mary’s)) and Spoden with 10 each would put five scorers in double figures for the Saints. Harrell lit the court for the Rams with 24 points for the game. 

The Saints were 8-for-19 from beyond the arc, but more impressively were 16-of-20 from the free throw line. CSS also committed a season-low nine turnovers.

The Saints (10-14, 7-6 UMAC) will finish the regular season tomorrow when they take on conference leader University of Northwestern in St. Paul at 5 p.m. A win would clinch a postseason spot for the Saints. CSS can also get in with a Bethany Lutheran loss. A Bethany Lutheran win and a CSS loss would end the Saints' season.