Notables
-Crown's first-ever win at the Reif in 18 chances
-CSS missed its final 12 3-point attempts of the game
-CSS was 8-for-14 from the free throw line in the second half, after going 10-for-11 in the first half

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DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica men's basketball team held a 24-point lead with 11 minutes remaining in the first half, but Crown College continued to fight and claw back into the contest and closed the game on a 15-5 run to rally past a stunned Saints squad 84-77 Friday night at the Reif Gymnasium.
 
Saints Scorching Early
The Saints could do no wrong in the opening minutes of the game, making their first six shots and going 11-for-13 from the field in the first six minutes of the contest. During that time frame, CSS went on a 21-2 run with Kory Deadrick (Esko, Minn./Esko HS) scoring 14 points.
 
After a pair of Nate Weets (Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet HS) free throws the lead climbed to 24 points with 11 minutes remaining in the first half. Following the free throws, Crown went on a 13-2 run to cut the margin to 37-24 with eight minutes to go. The Storm continued to hang around and got the lead down to 11 with two minutes left before half. Brandon Newman (Barnum, Minn./Barnum HS) and Julius Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) responded with baskets before the half as the Saints went into the locker room with a healthy 51-36 lead.
 
Second Half = A Different Story
The Saints started to show signs of cooling off in the latter part of the first half after that torrid start, finishing the half by shooting 51 percent from the floor and going 0-for-6 from beyond the arc in the final 10 minutes.
 
That carried over into the second half as Crown slowly crept into the contest. The Saints were 0-for-6 on 3-point attempts and shot only 27 percent in the second half. The Storm got the margin down to single digits four minutes into the half. They then got within five, a minute later, but the Saints were able to maintain at least a five-point lead until the midway point of the half.
 
Crown's Austin VanDerHeyden drained a 3-pointer to cut the CSS lead to two and on the next possession Timothy Wendel connected on a 3-pointer to give Crown its first lead at 69-68 with seven minutes to go.
 
The Saints answered with four straight points to regain a three-point lead with four minutes remaining. However, Crown did not fold and scored eight of the next nine points capped off on a VanDerHeyden 3-point-play.
 
Following a Zach Dahlman (Braham, Minn./Braham HS) basket that made it a two-point game with 1:30 left, a pivotal sequence took place. After a CSS 3-point attempt was off the mark, Crown grabbed the rebound and went to the foul line for a one-and-one. Crown's Josh Volness would miss the front-end, but got his own rebound and ball ultimately led to VanDerHeyden who drained a 3-pointer with 50 seconds on the clock to extend the lead to five.
 
The Storm then went 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final 30 seconds to upset the Saints 84-77.
 
Top Performances for CSS
Newman led the Saints with 20 points, Deadrick finished with 17 points with Johnson adding 15 points, five assists and five rebounds.
 
Top Performances for the Opponent
Wendel led all scorers with 25 points, followed by VanDerHeyden with 23 points. Wendel and VanDerHeyden combined for 32 of Crown's (4-10, 3-4 UMAC) 48 points in the second half.
 
Up Next
The Saints (7-8, 4-3 UMAC) will host the University of Minnesota Morris tomorrow at 5 p.m. at the Reif Gymnasium. The action can be seen live on Saints Sports Net.