DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica men's basketball team will play its final conference games of the calendar year this weekend when it hits the road to face Martin Luther College on Friday and Bethany Lutheran College on Saturday.
Where:
Friday
MLC Gymnasium – New Ulm, Minn.
Saturday
North Gymnasium – Mankato, Minn.
When:
Friday at Martin Luther – 7:30 p.m.
Saturday at Bethany Lutheran – 5 p.m.
Live Video vs. Martin Luther: http://new.livestream.com/mlc-knightvision
Live Stats vs. Martin Luther: https://livestats.mlc-wels.edu/
Live Video vs. Bethany Lutheran: https://iframe.dacast.com/b/51317/c/75787
Live Stats vs. Bethany Lutheran: http://livestats.blc.edu/
Social Media:
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/CSSsaints
Instagram:
www.instagram.com/csssaints
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/css.saints
St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 4-4, 2-1 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
Last Action: The Saints won back-to-back games for the first time this season, defeating Finlandia University (Mich.) 90-79 on Friday night and then winning an overtime thriller over Northland College 105-102 on Saturday … CSS was 19-of-22 from the free throw line and shot 61 percent in the second half to defeat the Lions on Friday …
Brandon Newman (Barnum, Minn./Barnum HS) led the way with 24 points …
Collin Anderson (Eagan, Minn./Eagan HS) added a season-high 14 points … St. Scholastica and Northland was decided in overtime for the second straight time, with CSS rallying from a seven-point deficit with two minutes to play to force overtime thanks to a
Julius Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) 3-pointer in the final seconds … The Saints then went 5-for-5 from the floor and 14-of-16 on free throw attempts in overtime … Newman had a game-high 26 points, including 11 in overtime.
Records Set Saturday: The Saints set a program record with 24 points in one overtime … CSS and Northland also combined for a program record 45 points in the five-minute overtime, that is six points shy of the NCAA Division III record … Northland was also called for 34 fouls, which are the most by an opponent against the Saints in program history … It was only the second time in program history, but the second time in 10 months, that the Saints played a game where both teams scored over 100 points.
Three Straight 20-Point Games: Sophomore
Brandon Newman (Barnum, Minn./Barnum HS) has recorded at least 20 points in three straight games … The last time a Saint did that was Chris Hamers during the 2011-12 season … The last time a CSS player hit 20 points in four straight games was when current assistant coach
Andrew Schmitz did it at the end of the 2007-08 season.
Getting to the Line: The Saints shot 46 free throws in Saturday's win over Northland, making 36 of those attempts … The 36 makes are two shy of the program record set in last year's overtime win over the University of Wisconsin-Superior … The 46 attempts are three shy of the program record … CSS has made 58 more free throws than its opponents and have attempted 66 more free throws this season.
Get Defensive: The last three teams the Saints have faced have all shot over 50 percent from the floor and CSS has allowed opponents to shoot over 50 percent in six of the first eight games … St. Scholastica is among the bottom 20 teams in the country in field goal percentage defense.
Second Half Struggles: Opponents have scored at least 40 points in the second half against the Saints in every game thus far, including twice-allowing 50 points in the second half … St. Scholastica has only out-scored its opponent in the second half twice … CSS has a plus-31 margin in the first half and a minus-38 margin in the second half.
UMAC Preseason Poll
1. Northwestern - 62 points (7 First Place Votes)
2. St. Scholastica - 58 (2)
3. Minnesota Morris - 46
4. North Central - 42
5. Bethany Lutheran - 32
6. Northland - 31
7. Crown - 25
8. UW-Superior - 19
9. Martin Luther - 9
Upcoming Opponents
Martin Luther Knights
Record: 1-8, 0-3 UMAC
The Knights are in search of their first league win of the season … Martin Luther's lone win was a 75-74 victory over Maranatha Baptist (Wis.) on November 19 … The Knights are coming off a tough 110-56 defeat to the University of Minnesota Morris last Saturday … MLC is averaging a league-low 65.9 points per game and is allowing the most points in the league at 89.8 points per contest … Ian Paulsen leads the team with 12.3 points per game … Luke Rothe is averaging 10.8 per game and Jeffrey Parker 10.0 points per contest … Paulsen is second in the league with 13 blocked shots and 14 steals … Parker is third in the conference, averaging 3.8 assists per game … MLC alum and former Bethany Lutheran Head Coach Greg Holzhueter guides the Knights this season.
Bethany Lutheran Vikings
Record: 3-5, 1-2 UMAC
The Vikings are coming off a pair of road losses to Minnesota Morris and Crown College last weekend … Bethany has defeated the University of Wisconsin-Stout on December 5 and has scored above 90 points four times already … Like the Saints, the Vikings get to the free throw line as they have made 144 free throws, 15 behind the league-leading Saints … The Vikings return 86 percent of their scoring from a season ago led by Brandyn Frelix, who leads the team with 16.1 points per game … Frelix also leads the team with 7.5 rebounds per game … Neil Eichten averages 13.9 points per contest and Austin Bauer 10.5 per game … Bauer leads the UMAC, making 93 percent of his free throw attempts … The Vikings are under the direction of new head coach Matt Fletcher.
Series Records:
-CSS leads Martin Luther 39-18
(Last Meeting: 95-71 CSS – 1/23/2016)
-Bethany Lutheran leads CSS 14-13
(Last Meeting: 83-62 CSS – 1/22/2016)
Series Histories: The Saints have won seven straight against Martin Luther … However, CSS is only 15-12 all-time against the Knights in New Ulm /// St. Scholastica has won four straight and five of the last six meetings against Bethany Lutheran … Prior to that, the Vikings had won eight straight … In last year's visit to Mankato, the Saints went over the century mark with a 103-88 victory.
Looking Ahead: The Saints will be in action between the Holidays down in Dubuque, Iowa first facing the University of Dubuque on Thursday, December 29 and then facing Loras College on Friday, December 30.
