DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica men's basketball team will host conference leader University of Northwestern (Minn.) on Friday and North Central University (Minn.) on Saturday for Alumni Day at the Reif Gymnasium.
Where:
Reif Gymnasium (Burns Wellness Center) – Duluth, Minn.
When:
Friday vs. Northwestern – 7:30 p.m.
Saturday Alumni Game – 12:15 p.m.
Saturday vs. North Central – 5 p.m.
Live Video: http://www.csssaints.com/ssn
Live Stats: http://saintscholastica.statcrew.com/mncaab/2016/current/live.html
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St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 8-8, 5-3 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
Last Action: The Saints split Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) games last weekend, falling to Crown College 84-77 on Friday night, but responding to beat the University of Minnesota Morris 88-77 on Saturday … CSS led by as much as 24 points against Crown, but the Strom rallied and out-scored the Saints 15-5 in the final minutes to win at the Reif for the first time in program history … On Saturday, the Saints were the team rallying, using a 17-1 run to close the first half …
Brandon Newman (Barnum, Minn./Barnum HS) scored 15 of his game-high 21 points in the second half.
Largest Lead Lost: The loss to Crown was the first known time that the Saints lost a game in which they led by at least 20 points … The previous largest lead lost was to Concordia College-Moorhead during the 2010-11 season when the Saints held a 19-point lead and fell to the Cobbers.
Alumni Day: The Saints will hold their annual Alumni Day on Saturday with the Alumni game scheduled for 12:15 p.m. in Reif with a small reception to follow.
Second Half of League Play: Part two of round-robin play begins this weekend around the league … Friday's opponent, the University of Northwestern, has a three-game lead over the rest of the conference … After that it is a big mess from teams two thru eight … The Saints are tied for second with Bethany Lutheran College and Northland College … Minnesota Morris is in fifth at 4-4, while Saturday's opponent North Central is tied for sixth with Crown and the University of Wisconsin-Superior at 3-5 … Of the cluster of teams separated by just two games, the Saints only host North Central and Bethany Lutheran in the second half of the season.
Turnover Margin: St. Scholastica leads the UMAC with a +3.81 turnover margin per game … In conference-only games, CSS has a league-best +6.00 margin … The Saints force a conference-high 15.1 turnovers per game, while committing 11.3 turnovers per contest, which ranks second in the league … CSS leads the UMAC with 7.75 steals per game.
3-Point Struggles in UMAC Play: The Saints have made a conference-low 29.5 percent of their 3-point attempts in league games thus far, while allowing league opponents to shoot 41 percent from beyond the arc, the second-highest in the league … This weekend's opponents North Central and Northwestern rank second and third, respectively, in the conference.
Upcoming Opponents
Northwestern Eagles
Record: 12-4, 8-0 UMAC
The UMAC perennial power Eagles enter this weekend on a six-game winning streak … Northwestern dropped its first two games of the season, but has since won 12 of the last 14 games … The Eagles are 5-0 in true road games this season … Porter Morrell leads the team in scoring at 16.0 points per game … He is also on top of the league with a 5.2 assist-to-turnover ratio in conference games … Morrell was named the UMAC Player of the Week on Monday … Will Gisler is second on the squad at 14.5 points per game and leads the team with 8.1 rebounds per contest … Gisler leads the UMAC, making 84 percent of his free throw attempts … The Eagles have the top defense in the conference, allowing only 67.1 points per game, opponents are shooting 42 percent and they have the top rebounding margin at +5.3 … Northwestern also enters averaging the third-fewest turnovers per game in NCAA Division III (9.8).
North Central Rams
Record: 5-8, 3-5 UMAC
Like the Saints, the Rams are coming off a 1-1 weekend as they defeated Martin Luther College on Friday night, but fell to Bethany Lutheran on Saturday … Guard Travis Voigt leads the team in scoring at 16.8 points per game … Voigt is averaging three made 3-point field goals per game in conference play, which ranks second in the UMAC … CJ Lewis is averaging 15.5 points per game, while Joel Kline averages 12.4 points and a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game … Lewis is leading the squad in scoring in conference play averaging the same 15.5 points per game.
Series Records:
-Northwestern leads CSS 51-27
(Last Meeting: 76-69 UNW – 12/3/2016)
-CSS leads North Central 21-9
(Last Meeting: 74-59 CSS – 12/2/2016)
Series Histories: Northwestern defeated the Saints earlier this season down in St. Paul by a final of 76-69 … CSS led by 11 with three minutes remaining in the first half … The Eagles' last trip to the Reif resulted in a UMAC Tournament championship /// The Saints took care of the Rams in the first meeting this season in a game that was actually played on the campus of Crown College … St. Scholastica has won two straight over North Central, but have not won three consecutive games since 2008-09.
Looking Ahead: The Saints will head to Wisconsin to face Northland College on Friday, November 27.
