Notables
-Laughlin a career-high 28 points for CSS
-First UMAC Tournament win since 2010 
-Home win streak extended to 15 games
-CSS had a 17-2 advantage on the offensive glass
-St. Scholastica scored 52 points in the paint compared to 32 for Morris   

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DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica men's basketball team defeated the University of Minnesota Morris in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament semifinals 81-66 Wednesday night in the Reif Gymnasium behind a career-high 28 points from senior Andrew Laughlin (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Central HS).
 
First Half
CSS began the game by building a slim single digit lead that it would hold for the majority of the first half, building it as high as nine points on three separate occasions. Each time, however, Morris would find a way to trip it back down as both teams played very competitively.
 
The Saints finally broke a double digit lead when Andrew Laughlin (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Central HS) sunk a jump shot to give CSS a 25-14 lead with 6:41 to go in the half.
 
The double digit lead was short lived, however, as Morris quickly scored on the other end to again set the Saints lead at nine.
 
Marc Peterson (Esko, Minn./Esko HS) would again give the Saints a double digits lead shortly after with a 3-pointer to make the score 28-16 with 6:12 to go in the half. Peterson would finish the half 2-of-4 from behind the arc in the first half for six points.
 
Peterson's three ball went on to spark a 13-4 Saints run over the next four plus minutes that put them up 38-20 with just over two minutes to play.
 
The 18-point lead would end up holding through the rest of the half as Laughlin sunk a jumper with just two seconds left on the clock en route to a 44-26 halftime lead for the Saints.
 
Second Half
Morris would begin the half on an 8-2 run to trip the Saints lead to 12 less than two minutes into the second half, but CSS would respond with four straight points to give them a 50-34 lead with 16:19 to go in the game.
 
St. Scholastica would maintain a low double digit lead for most of the first nine minutes of the half. The Cougars would make things interesting when they broke the CSS double digit lead with 11:30 to go in the game to make the score 60-51.
 
Over the next four plus minutes they would go on to complete their momentum run by witling down the hole to just four points at 60-56 with 7:21 left in the game after a series of made 3-pointers.
 
The Saints looked in danger of giving up their lead when, following a time out and the score 62-58, they began an 8-0 run over the next minute and a half highlighted by a Nate Weets (Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet HS) 3-pointer to go back up by 12 pionts at 70-58 with 4:33 left in the game.
 
After the Weets three there was no keeping the Saints from victory as they built their lead back up as high as 17 points in the final minutes.
 
As the final buzzer sounded, CSS survived the scare running away late with an 81-66 victory over the Cougars.

Top Performers
Laughlin ended his huge performance with a double-double leading all scorers with a career-high 28 points, while collecting 10 rebounds. Brandon Newman (Barnum, Minn./Barnum HS) and Zach Dahlman (Braham, Minn./Braham HS) would join Laughlin in the double digit club with 14 and 10 points respectively.
 
CD Douglas led the way for Morris with 21 points in a losing effort.
 
Up Next
St. Scholastica will host the University of Northwestern for the UMAC Tournament championship game on Saturday night at the Reif Gymnasium. Tip time is scheduled for 7 p.m. Northwestern defeated North Central University 88-66 in the other semifinal tonight.