No. 1 St. Scholastica, No. 2 Northwestern win to secure spots in UMAC title game
ST. PAUL, Minn.---Following a thrilling quarterfinal that came down to the last shot of the game Monday, the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) men's basketball tournament heated up Wednesday with No. 1 College of St. Scholastica and No. 2 University of Northwestern-St. Paul advancing to the championship game for a rematch of the regular season finale. No. 1 St. Scholastica defeated No. 4 University of Minnesota Morris 81-66 in Duluth, Minnesota, while No. 2 Northwestern took down No. 3 North Central University in St. Paul.
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Tournament Site |
Semifinal 1 Recap |
Semifinal 2 Recap |
No. 1 St. Scholastica defeats No. 4 Minnesota Morris, 81-66; Duluth, Minn.
Coming off an exciting win over Northwestern to clinch the regular season title, the Saints had all the momentum going into Wednesday's matchup with the Cougars. After a close game early on, the Saints quickly went on a 21-10 run over nearly 11 minutes to take a double-digit lead with 6:41 remaining in the opening half before leading 44-26 at the half.
However, the Cougars weren't going to go quietly. Down 13 with 12:41 remaining in the second half, the Cougars went on 12-4 run in the next six-plus minutes to pull within four. That was as close as they would come, though, before the Saints closed out the game and the Cougars fell to 13-14 on the season.
Despite the loss, the Cougars narrowly edged out the Saints shooting 44.3 percent to 43.8 percent for St. Scholastica. The Saints managed, though, to score 52 points in the paint and held an impressive 49-31 advantage in rebounds. They also led by as many as 18 points in the second half.
Andrew Laughlin recorded a game-high 28 points and 10 rebounds and shot 13-of-17 from the floor for a dazzling double-double performance to lead the Saints. They also received 14 points from Brandon Newman and 10 from Zach Dahlman. The Cougars' star CD Douglas picked up 21 points to lead the team while Tyler Ukkelberg added 11 points.
No. 2 Northwestern defeats No. 3 North Central, 88-66; St. Paul, Minn.
After splitting their season series, the No. 2 Eagles and No. 3 Rams had a lot on the line in a Twin Cities rematch Wednesday. Eventually victorious, the Eagles used a late run in the first half to take a double-digit lead and never looked back en route victory on their home court.
With the excitement of an electrified crowd, the Eagles and Rams opened up the game exchanging points but the Rams never found a way to take a lead at any point in the game. The Eagles made six 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes and built a lead to 14 points with just under six to play before taking a 45-33 lead into the half.
The Eagles' sharp shooting continued in the second half making over 55 percent of their shots. They ended the game 9-of-18 of from beyond the arc and shot 50.8 percent from the floor. They also held a 43-34 advantage in rebounds to knock off the Rams who end the season 13-13 overall.
Will Gisler led five Eagle players in double digits with 13 points, while Porter Morrell and Anderson Bazile Jr. each had 12, Michael Carney had 11 and Cody Sprenger added 10.The Rams received a standout performance from Cody Martin who scored 18 points. Travis Voight and Josh High each added 10-point efforts in the loss.
Wednesday's semifinals set the stage for a thrilling UMAC playoff championship game set for Saturday. No. 1 St. Scholastica will host No. 2 Northwester at 7 p.m. in Duluth.
All tournament information including scores, recaps, team information and more can be found on the
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Playoff Schedule
Quarterfinal Round – Monday, Feb. 22
No. 4 Minnesota Morris defeats No. 5 Wisconsin-Superior, 83-80 |
Box Score |
UMM Recap |
UWS Recap |
Semifinal Round – Wednesday, Feb. 24
No. 1 St. Scholastica defeats No. 4 Minnesota Morris 81-66; |
Box Score |
CSS Recap |
UMM Recap |
No. 2 Northwestern defeats No. 3 North Central, 88-66 |
Box Score |
UNW Recap |
NCU Recap |
Championship – Saturday, Feb. 27
No. 1 St. Scholastica hosts No. 2 Northwestern, Duluth, Minn., 7 p.m.
2015-2016 Tournament Page