DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica men's basketball team will have its final regular season home games this weekend when it faces Bethany Lutheran College and Martin Luther College at the Reif Gymnasium.
Where:
Reif Gymnasium (Burns Wellness Center) – Duluth, Minn.
When:
Friday vs. Bethany Lutheran – 7:30 p.m.
Saturday vs. Martin Luther – 5 p.m.
(Senior Day)
Live Video: http://www.csssaints.com/ssn
Live Stats: http://saintscholastica.statcrew.com/mncaab/2016/current/live.html
Social Media:
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/Csssaintsbball
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St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 12-8, 8-3 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
Last Action: The Saints earned a pair of road wins last weekend, defeating Northland College 90-81 on Friday night and then taking care of Finlandia University (Mich.) 94-87 on Saturday despite being on very little rest … CSS trailed at the half in both games …
Brandon Newman (Barnum, Minn./Barnum HS) led all scorers with 23 points against the LumberJacks and again led the Saints with 16 points against the Lions on Saturday … St. Scholastica had seven players score in double-figures against Finlandia and shot a season-best 61 percent from the floor.
Free Throw Success: The Saints were 43-for-47 from the free throw line over the weekend … In the second half against Northland on Friday, CSS was 22-of-23 from the foul line in the second half and made its final 21 free throw attempts … On Saturday, the Saints made their first six attempts and were 6-for-6 from the line in the final two minutes … St. Scholastica ranks 10
th in NCAA Division III with 368 made free throws.
Where They Stand: The Saints sit alone in second place, two games behind conference leader University of Northwestern (Minn.) and a game up on Friday's opponent Bethany Lutheran … Bethany won the first meeting against the Saints, which Friday's game extra important … Northland and the University of Minnesota Morris sit two games behind the Saints in the loss column … CSS has five conference games remaining.
Turnover Margin: St. Scholastica continues to lead the UMAC with a +3.60 turnover margin per game … CSS forces a conference-best 14.7 turnovers per game and leads the league with 145 steals.
Upcoming Opponents
Bethany Lutheran Vikings
Record: 11-8, 7-4 UMAC
The Vikings had a three-game win streak snapped with a 100-91 loss at home to Minnesota Morris last Saturday … It was also their first conference home loss of the season … Bethany has scored at least 90 points in each of the last three games and is the highest scoring team in the UMAC, averaging 85.6 points per game … Like the Saints, the Vikings like to get to the free throw line as they rank second in the conference in free throws made (315) and attempted (445) … Bethany also controls the glass, leading the conference in rebounds per game (40.0) overall and a +6.3 rebounding margin in conference games … Brandyn Frelix leads the team, averaging 16.9 points and 81. Rebounds per game … Neil Eichten averages 12.9 points per game and Brady Rose 10.6 per game.
Martin Luther Knights
Record: 1-18, 0-11 UMAC
The Knights enter the weekend on a 16-game losing streak … Martin Luther's lone win this season came at home against Maranatha Baptist (Wis.) by one point on November 19 … The Knights are coming off a two-point loss at home to Crown College on Saturday … Martin Luther ranks near the bottom of the league in most statistical categories, but lead the conference with 7.4 steals per game … Ian Paulsen leads the team with 12.1 points per game … He also averages a team-best 7.3 rebounds per contest … Paulsen leads the conference with 20 blocked shots and 24 steals in conference games.
Series Records:
-Bethany Lutheran leads CSS 15-13
(Last Meeting: 91-76 BLC – 12/17/2016)
-CSS leads Martin Luther 40-18
(Last Meeting: 95-71 CSS – 12/16/2016)
Series Histories: The Saints had a four-game win streak against Bethany Lutheran snapped in December in Mankato with a 91-76 Viking victory … CSS has won its last three games at the Reif against BLC /// For the second consecutive meeting, the Saints defeated Martin Luther by a 95-71 final … St. Scholastica has won eight straight in the series and has not lost at home to the Knights since January of 2004.
Looking Ahead: The Saints will have their second matchup with Bridge Rival University of Wisconsin-Superior on Saturday, February 11 in Superior.
