Upper Midwest Athletic Conference

UMAC Game of the Week: Bethany Lutheran vs. St. Scholastica - Men's Basketball

1/16/2020 3:51:08 PM

The UMAC Game of the Week runs each Thursday during the conference regular season and breaks down one key matchup from one sport. 

DULUTH, Minn.---The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) men's basketball season is nearly halfway complete and the race for the top spot is tightening up with four teams still well in the mix. Among those are two teams that have put together thrilling matchups over the last few years in Bethany Lutheran College and the College of St. Scholastica. The two will meet for the first time this season in Duluth Saturday at 3 p.m.   

***UPDATE***
Bethany Lutheran won 91-76

Matchup History

• Bethany Lutheran took both of the regular season games from St. Scholastica last season. The Saints got revenge in the UMAC tournament semifinal with a 95-88 road win to advance to the UMAC Championship.  
• The Saints have defeated the Vikings on the road in the UMAC semifinals twice in the last three seasons. 
• In the last 10 games, each team has won five contests. The winning team has also scored at least 80 points in nine of those 10 matchups.
• The Saints have not beaten the Vikings in back-to-back games since the 2015-16 season when they won the regular season conference title.

This Season

• Both teams enter the contest with five conference wins. Bethany Lutheran owns a 5-1 UMAC record, while St. Scholastica is 5-2.
• The Vikings are riding a five-game winning streak that started following the end of the holiday break. They extended their streak Wednesday with a 94-73 win over North Central University at home.
• The Saints have won three-straight and four of their last five since returning from the holidays. They earned a third-consecutive conference win with a 96-77 defeat of Northland College on the road. 
• The two teams are fairly evenly matched in scoring with the Vikings second in conference play (89.2 ppg) and the Saints third (82.6 ppg). The two teams are also in the top three for total rebounds with each averaging over 40 per game, but the biggest difference that could be critical in the contest is the difference in rebounding margin. The Vikings are at plus-6.7 rpg while the Saints are at just plus-1.1 rpg.

Bethany Lutheran Key Players (conference stats)

• Trenton Kreuger, F - 14.2 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 66.7%
• Cire Mayfield, G - 17.8 ppg, 51.2%, 8.0 apg, 1.8 spg, 3.0 A/TO
• Jared Milinkovich, G - 11.7 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 1.0 bpg, 1.5 spg

St. Scholastica Key Players (conference stats)

• Collin Anderson, G - 16.6 ppg, 49.4%, 40.8 3-pt%, 3.0 apg, 1.9 spg
• Jack Silgen, F - 13.4 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 56.2 %, 1.7 apg
• Jarod Wilken, F - 10.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.4 bpg

Game Information

• Duluth, Minnesota, Burns Wellness Center, College of St. Scholastica
• Saturday, Jan. 18, 3 p.m.
• Live Stats
• Live Video

UMAC Game of the Week Archives