DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – Postseason positioning will fuel the St. Scholastica men's basketball team this weekend when it finishes the regular season at the University of Minnesota Morris on Friday and Crown College on Saturday.
Where:
Friday
Jim Gremmels Court (P.E. Center) – Morris, Minn.
Saturday
Wild Athletic Center – St. Bonifacius, Minn.
When:
Friday at Minnesota Morris – 7:30 p.m.
Saturday at Crown – 5 p.m.
Live Video/Stats vs. Morris: http://morriscougars.com/watch/default.aspx?Live=53
Live Video vs. Crown: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/crown/
Social Media:
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/Csssaintsbball
Instagram:
www.instagram.com/csssaints
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/css.saints
St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 14-9, 10-4 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
Last Action: The Saints swept the season series from Bridge Rival University of Wisconsin-Superior with an 83-74 victory on Saturday in Superior …
Collin Anderson (Eagan, Minn./Eagan HS) led the way with a game-high 16 points off the bench …
Kory Deadrick (Esko, Minn./Esko HS) recorded his first double-double of his career with 11 points and 10 rebounds … The victory marked the first time the Saints have won four straight games over UWS.
Postseason Positioning: With the victory on Saturday, the Saints played their way to at least a three seed in next week's Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament … At best, the Saints can tie for first place , but can only be as high as a No. 2 seed … The team to follow this weekend is Bethany Lutheran College, who is tied with the Saints for second, but own the tiebreaker … The game to follow will be Bethany Lutheran hosting conference leader University of Northwestern (Minn.) on Saturday.
Ironman: Senior
Julius Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) could move into the program's top 10 for career games played this weekend … Johnson has appeared in 102 games up this point in his four years as a Saint and also has the fifth-most starts in program history (89) … Johnson could also move into the top four minutes played in a career after this weekend.
Newman's Season: Sophomore
Brandon Newman (Barnum, Minn./Barnum HS) leads the team at 16.3 points per game … If the season ended today, that would be highest scoring average by a Saint since Brett Tester averaged 17.0 points per game during the 2011-12 season … He is tied for the team-lead in steals (26), second on the squad in assists (59), second in rebounds (101), first in the conference in free throws made (100) and second in free throw percentage (.794).
Well…Isn't That Interesting: St. Scholastica and Minnesota Morris will enter Friday's game with exact same number of points scored this season (1,908).
Upcoming Opponents
Minnesota Morris Cougars
Record: 13-10, 8-6 UMAC
After struggling in the month of January, the Cougars enter Friday's contest winners of four of their last five … Morris has already clinched a UMAC postseason berth and will play in the opening round game against Northland College on Monday at a location that will be determined this weekend … The Cougars are led by leading scorer CD Douglas, who also leads the UMAC at 18.9 points per game … Douglas leads the league in assists (127) with teammate Tyler Ukkelberg next with 108 … Douglas also leads in steals (44), while Jeremy Halversen leads the conference with 41 blocked shots … Noah Grove is second in the UMAC, making 42 percent of his 3-point attempts … The Cougars have the best field goal percentage in the conference, making 49 percent of their attempts and the best field goal percentage defense (.419) … Morris commits the second-fewest fouls per game (13.4) in NCAA Division III.
Crown Storm
Record: 8-15, 5-9 UMAC
The Storm were eliminated from postseason contention last weekend after suffering a pair of losses to North Central University (Minn.) and Northwestern … Crown enters the weekend having lost three straight games … The Storm are led by Timothy Wendel, who is averaging 18.7 points per game, second in the UMAC … Austin VanDerHeyden is averaging 15.3 points per game … Both Wendel and VanDerHeyden combined to score 32 of Crown 48 second half points in the first meeting … Wendel also leads the team with 7.1 rebounds per game.
Series Records:
-UMM leads CSS 24-16
(Last Meeting: 88-77 CSS – 1/14/2017)
-CSS leads Crown 32-5
(Last Meeting: 84-77 Crown – 1/13/2017)
Series Histories: The Saints have won three straight games against Minnesota Morris (all at home) for the first time since 2009-10 … CSS is only 3-15 all-time at Morris with its last victory coming in February of 2008 /// Crown rallied from a 24-point deficit to win its first-ever game at the Reif in January … The Saints have never lost back-to-back games to the Storm.
Looking Ahead: The Saints will play in the UMAC Tournament semifinals on Wednesday, February 22. The opponent and location of that game will be determined this weekend.
