Duluth, Minn. – The Saints finish out regular season UMAC play with two games on the road. The Saints travel to Bethany Lutheran on Friday night for a game time of 7:30 p.m. The Saints then play the next day at Martin Luther to close out the regular season at 5 p.m.
The Records:
St. Scholastica Saints ( 5-7 UMAC, 8-15 Overall)
Bethany Lutheran Vikings ( 7-5 UMAC, 7-15 Overall)
Martin Luther Knights (4-8 UMAC, 7-14 Overall)
Last Action: All three teams last took to the court on Saturday. The Saints played conference powerhouse, Northwestern. The Saints hung in the game throughout but ended up losing 76-68. The Saints had three players in double figures, #Chris Hamers# (
Onamia, Minn.) had a team-high 22 points, #Danny Schmitz #
(Hinckley, Minn.) had 21 points and #Brett Tester#
(Andover, Minn.) had 13 points and a team-high six rebounds. Despite a halftime lead, Bethany Lutheran would fall to the University of Minnesota-Morris 99-80. Leading the Vikings was Tommy Saffert who had 20 points and Patrick Garvin who had 11 points and five assists. After a halftime deficit, the Knights came out shooting in the second half to give them a 69-59 win over Presentation College. Greg Holzheuter and Nathan Bauer led the Knights with 19 points each.
St. Scholastica Saints: The Saints playoff hopes are riding on these two games. The Saints could be either the #3, #4, #5, #6 seed or not even make the playoffs depending on how CSS and other teams do this weekend. The Saints have lost three of four of late and are looking to bounce back this weekend….Schmitz, Hamers and Tester are all in double figures scoring for the Saints, at 12.6, 12.6 and 11.4 points respectively… Tester is also leading the team in rebounds with 4.4 a game. Tester has been on a streak of late, scoring double figures in his last seven games, and eight of nine. Over those seven games he is averaging 15.7 points per game…Hamers has been hot as well over the last two averaging 20 points and 6.5 rebound over both games. As a team the Saints are averaging 65 points per game.
Bethany Lutheran Vikings: The Vikings have secured a postseason spot and could finish anywhere from the #2 seed or the #5 seed depending on play this weekend…The Vikings are led by Tommy Saffert who is averaging 13.3 points per game. After becoming BLC's all-time leading scorer earlier this year, Saffert has gone over 20 points in four of his last ten games, including 31 against Martin Luther…Trevor Bartlett is the team's leading rebounder at five boards per game. Bartlett is averaging seven per game over the last five games…As a team the Vikings are scoring 65.5 points per game.
Martin Luther College Knights: The Knights have playoff hopes on their mind this weekend as they close out their regular season as well. The Knights could get the #5 or #6 seed or not make it all to the dance…the Knights are led by the UMAC's top scorer, Greg Holzheuter. Holzheuter is scoring 16.6 points per game. He has scored double figures in all but one game this year, going over 20 points five times…Ryan Kolander is leading the team in rebounds with 5.5 rebounds per game…As a team the Knights are averaging 68.6 points per game.
Last Meeting: The Saints hosted both teams for a weekend home stay earlier in the year. The Saints beat Martin Luther by pulling away in the second half,73-57. Hamers led the Saints with 23 points and seven rebounds. Holzheuter led the way for the Knights with 22 points.
Bethany Lutheran downed the Saints in their last game 78-65. The Saints had a half-time lead but were outscored by 19 in the second half. Hamers scored 20 points, all of which came in the first half. Tester scored 17 points and a team-high six rebounds. Three different Vikings scored 15 points.
