Box Score
DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Scholastica men’s basketball team had a NCAA Division III best 11-game winning streak snapped this afternoon with a 87-47 loss to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire at Reif Gym.
The Saints had also won 11 straight games at Reif Gym entering today with their last loss coming in the home opener last season against another Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) school, UW-Superior.
Today’s game was about CSS’s inability to shoot and the Blugolds’ presence on the offensive glass. Eau Claire never trailed in the game. A 9-0 run by the Blugolds early made it 19-6 Eau Claire. The largest lead of the first half came at the end when a lay-up with four seconds left made the halftime score 42-18.
The Saints shot just 23-percent from the field in the first half, while the Blugolds were 53-percent from the field. The Blugolds also had a 26-13 edge on rebounds and had 10 second-chance points.
Eau Claire kept the pressure on in the second half extending its lead to as much as 41 points. The Blugolds ended up cruising to victory 87-47.
The Saints ended up shooting 28-percent from the field and was 0-for-10 on 3-point attempts. The last time CSS was held without a 3-point field goal was also against the Blugolds on December 13, 2003. That is a streak of 156 consecutive games of at least one 3-pointer. Eau Claire shot 52-percent for the game and finished with 20 offensive rebounds that led to 22 points. The Blugolds out-scored the Saints 48-24 in the paint.
Danny Schmitz (
Jr.-Hinckley, Minn./Hinckley-Finlayson) led the Saints with nine points.
Logan Schultz (
Jr.-Perham, Minn.),
Brett Tester (
Fr.-Andover, Minn.), and
Pat Franko (
Fr.-Rochester, Minn./Century) each added seven points.
Josh Kosloske (
Fr.-Oakfield, Wis.) had a team-high nine rebounds. Amadou Fofana led the Blugolds with 14 points.
The Saints will be on the road Tuesday night when it faces North Central University in Minneapolis. The tip-off is set for approximately 7:30 p.m., following the women’s game.