DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica men's basketball team will be in search of its fifth Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament championship, while its opponent, the University of Northwestern, will look for its sixth straight tournament title Saturday night at the Reif Gymnasium.
 
Where:
Reif Gymnasium – Duluth, Minn.
 
When:
Saturday at 7 p.m.
 
Live Video/Stats: http://www.csssaints.com/ssn
 
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St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 19-7, 13-3 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
 
Last Action: The Saints led for the much of the game in Wednesday's semifinal, defeating the University of Minnesota Morris 81-66 … Senior Andrew Laughlin (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Central HS) had a career-high 28 points in the victory, which saw the Saints shoot only 3-for-23 from beyond the arc … CSS dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Cougars 49-31, including 17-2 on the offensive glass … It was the first UMAC Tournament game played at the Reif since 2009 and the first UMAC Tournament victory for CSS since 2010.
 
Win No. 200: Wednesday night's semifinal win was the 200^th for head coach David Staniger … Staniger, who is in his 16^th season with the Saints, is the winningest coach in program history … The 19 wins this season are the most of his career.
 
Home Winning Streak: The Saints are 12-0 at the Reif Gymnasium this season and have a won a program record 15 straight overall. … The last loss at the Reif was against Minnesota Morris on February 6, 2015 … The 15-game home win streak is currently tied for the sixth-longest in NCAA Division III.
 
UMAC Championship History: This will be the third UMAC Tournament championship game played at the Reif … The Saints won the previous two championship games in Duluth, defeating Bethany Lutheran College in 2006 and 2009 … The Saints are 4-4 all-time in UMAC Tournament Championship games.
 
NCAA Bid: The winner of Saturday's game will receive the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament … Northwestern has been the league's representative every year since the conference AQ was established in 2011 … The Saints have never appeared in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
 
20-Win Season: With a victory on Saturday, St. Scholastica will have its first 20-win season in program history … The Saints are currently tied for the program record of 19 wins set in 1988-89.
 
By the Numbers: The Saints have made 400 free throws this season, which has not been done since the 2000-01 season … CSS has recorded over 2000 points this season for the first time since the 2006-07 season.
 
Need Balance The Saints are 18-3 this season when at least three players score in double figures … They are 7-0 when five players score at least 10 points.

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Upcoming Opponents
Northwestern Eagles
Record: 21-5, 12-4 UMAC
 
The No. 2-seeded Eagles defeated North Central University 88-66 Wednesday night in St. Paul to advance to Saturday's championship game … Will Gisler led the balanced scoring attack for the Eagles with 13 points … Northwestern never trailed in the game … This will be Northwestern's sixth straight UMAC Tournament final appearance … The only time the Eagles were not at home during that span was in 2012 when it defeated Bethany Lutheran in Mankato 60-44 … Northwestern advanced to the NCAA Division III Sweet 16 last season, so it has plenty of postseason experience … Senior guard Michael Carney leads six Eagles averaging double-figures in scoring with 13.3 points per game … Carney had 17 against the Saints last Saturday … Carney leads the UMAC with a 3.1 assist-to-turnover ratio … Senior forward Kyle Ooms is averaging 12.2 points per game and leads the UMAC with a 65.1 field goal percentage and 33 blocked shots … Ooms had 16 points, four offensive rebounds and five blocked shots last Saturday … Northwestern leads the UMAC in field goal percentage (.500), opponents' field goal percentage (.422) and fewest turnovers per game (9.6).
 
Series History: Northwestern leads 49-27
 
Regular Season Meetings: The Saints swept the Eagles for the first time since the 2008-09 season … CSS used a 16-0 run in the second half to rally past Northwestern in St. Paul 81-74 on January 16 … Last Saturday, the two teams met in Duluth in a winner-take-all game for the regular season title and the Saints shot 68 percent from the floor in the second half to pull away and win 76-69 … Brandon Newman (Barnum, Minn./Barnum HS) had 16 points in both games against the Eagles.
 
Postseason History: This will be 11^th UMAC Tournament meeting between the Saints and Eagles … The Eagles own a 6-5 advantage in those contests … Northwestern has ended the Saints' season in the UMAC semifinals each of the last two years … St. Scholastica has met the Eagles twice before for the UMAC Tournament title in 2001 and 2007 … Both of those took place in St. Paul with Northwestern winning in 2001 and St. Scholastica prevailing in overtime in 2007.

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Looking Ahead: The winner of Saturday night's championship game will earn the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament … Pairings for the 62-team tournament will be announced on Monday at 11:30 a.m. on NCAA.com.