DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – It will be a rematch of the 2016 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament championship when the St. Scholastica men's basketball team faces regular season champion University of Northwestern (Minn.) for the 2017 UMAC Tournament title on Saturday.
Where:
Ericksen Center – St. Paul, Minn.
When:
Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Live Video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/unw/
Live Stats: http://unweagles.com/sports/2012/11/7/gen_1107121456.aspx
Social Media:
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St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 17-9, 12-4 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
Last Action: The Saints rolled over Bethany Lutheran College 90-70 in the UMAC Tournament semifinals on Wednesday night …
Kory Deadrick (Esko, Minn./Esko HS) matched a career-high with 22 points, while
Collin Anderson (Eagan, Minn./Eagan HS) poured in 18 points off the bench … The CSS defense held the highest scoring team in the UMAC to only 40.7 shooting from the floor.
UMAC Championship History: The Saints are 4-5 all-time in UMAC Tournament championship games … The last road title game the Saints appeared in was in 2010 at the University of Minnesota Morris where they were playing their fifth game in eight days (all on the road) and lost 83-49.
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.
On the Road Again: The Saints enter Saturday's contest winners of six straight road games, which is a program record … CSS has won at least seven away games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 1996-97 & 1997-98 seasons.
2017 Has Been Good: Since the calendar flipped over to 2017, the Saints have won 12 of their last 14 games, including wins over Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) regular season champion Nebraska Wesleyan University and UMAC champion Northwestern.
Sixth Man: Freshman
Collin Anderson (Eagan, Minn./Eagan HS) is averaging 10.6 points per game on the year and has come off the bench the last 22 games … That is the highest scoring rate in the conference for a non-starter … In the last six games Anderson is averaging 15.0 points per game.
Defense Wins Championships: The Saints had their best defense performance of the season in Wednesday's win over Bethany Lutheran … CSS will need to duplicate that effort on Saturday … Northwestern enters as the second-best defensive team in the conference in teams of field goal percentage defense with opponents shooting 43.2 percent … The Saints are still allowing opponents to shoot 49 percent from floor … However, the Saints have forced the most turnovers in the conference (14.6 per game) and outscored Bethany Lutheran 21-3 in points off turnovers on Wednesday.
Upcoming Opponents
Northwestern Eagles
Record: 19-7, 13-3 UMAC
The Eagles are back in the UMAC Tournament Championship game for the sixth straight year … Northwestern has won each of those six championships … The last time the Eagles appeared in a UMAC Tournament championship game and lost was against the Saints in 2007 … The Eagles defeated Minnesota Morris 76-60 in the semifinals on Wednesday … Will Gisler and Peter Maring each recorded double-doubles … Gisler had a game-high 18 points in last year's UMAC championship game … Porter Morrell leads the team in scoring at 15.6 points per game … The Eagles have the top rebounding margin in the league at +5.7 and average the second-fewest turnovers per game (9.0) in NCAA Division III.
Series Record: Northwestern leads 51-28
(Last Meeting: 75-74 UNW – 1/20/2017)
Series History: The teams split the regular season series with each winning on their home court … The Eagles defeated the Saints by seven down at the Ericksen Center in December, but just last season, the Saints won at Northwestern … St. Scholastica is 3-4 all-time in postseason games at Northwestern, having dropped the last three … However, the last UMAC Championship game played at Northwestern, the Saints prevailed 92-90 in overtime in 2007.
Looking Ahead: The winner of Saturday's championship will receive the conference's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III Tournament. The tournament field will be announced on 11:30 a.m. Monday on NCAA.com. The national tournament will begin on March 3.
