Notables:-Win clinches UMAC Tournament berth-Laughlin had 16 of his 18 points in the first half-CSS bench outscored BLC's bench 23-11
DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – Junior
Jake Naslund (Barnum, Minn./Barnum HS) scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half to give the St. Scholastica men's basketball team a 61-59 victory over Bethany Lutheran College on Friday night at the Reif Gymnasium.
In doing so, the Saints clinched a UMAC Tournament postseason berth and can be either the third or fourth seed, pending the outcomes of tomorrow's games.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from
Joe Stark (Hayward, Wis./Hayward HS) and
Andrew Laughlin (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Central HS) started the game for the Saints. CSS led 13-2, five minutes into the contest. The Vikings would find their rhythm, while the Saints went cold, and scored seven straight points midway through the half to cut the margin to 17-15.
Bethany (4-20, 4-9 UMAC) eventually took the lead, but St. Scholastica closed the half strong with a 3-point play from
Nathan Carlson (Alvarado, Minn./East Grand Forks HS) and fastbreak layup by Laughlin as CSS went into halftime with a 33-28 advantage.
Laughlin had 16 of the team's 33 points in the first half, going 6-of-7 from the field and 3-of-4 from the foul line. The Saints shot 46 percent, while the Vikings shot 52 percent.
The Saints started ice cold in the second half, not scoring a point for the first five minutes and 50 seconds, while Bethany Lutheran went on a 12-0 run to take a seven-point lead. Bethany's Nick Sanborn had nine of the team's 12 points during that span.
CSS responded with an 11-0 run to regain a four-point lead. The Saints led by eight with under a minute to go, but the combination of missed free throws and made 3-point attempts by the Vikings cut that margin to three in the final seconds. After a pair of missed CSS free throws, Bethany had a look at a tying 3-point attempt, but it would be off the mark.
Julius Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) then sealed the win with a pair freebies as the Saints survived 61-59.
Neither team shot over 36 percent from the floor in the second half and the Saints were only 15-of-23 from the free throw line for the game.
Laughlin finished with 18 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Zach Dahlman (Braham, Minn./Braham HS) added seven points. Sanborn had a game-high 22 points to lead the Vikings.
The Saints (11-13, 7-6 UMAC) will close out the regular season tomorrow at the Reif Gymnasium when they host Martin Luther College for a 5 p.m. tip-off. It was also be Senior Day for the Saints. Catch all of the action live on Saints Sports Net.
