No. 4 Saints upset No. 1 Eagles, No. 2 Vikings win to host UMAC title game
ST. PAUL, Minn.---The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) men’s basketball tournament continued in historic fashion as No. 4 College of St. Scholastica defeated No. 1 University of Northwestern while No. 2 Bethany Lutheran College took care of business against No. 3 University of Wisconsin-Superior Wednesday evening.
The underdog Saints took down the regular season champion Eagles 85-82 – the first time the No. 4 seed has defeated the No. 1 seed in the five-team format in men's basketball – and the Vikings jumped out to a big early lead en route to a 92-72 win over the Yellowjackets.
SEMIFINAL 1: No. 4 St. Scholastica def. No. 1 Northwestern, 85-82 | Box Score |
In each of the previous six seasons, Northwestern has ended St. Scholastica's season in the conference tournament including the title game a year ago. However, the Saints finally found their revenge in a big way knocking off the top-seeded team for a chance at the title.
The Saints used a strong night of shooting as they went 46.5 percent from the field and scored 50 points in the paint. They also got 33 points off the bench and managed to hold two of the Eagles' top three scorers to just 10 points a piece.
The game started off in favor of the Eagles who jumped out to a six-point lead early. However, the Saints went on a 15-5 run in the final 4:10 of the first half to go up 10 at the break. The Saints never went down again despite the Eagles evening out the game at 68-68 with 5:21 to play. Finally, the Saints pushed their lead to six again several times in the remainder and managed to hold off the Eagles for the win.
Jack Silgen led the Saints with 27 points on 12-of-16 shooting with eight rebounds, while Nick Carlson had 19 on a 50-percent night from the field. Collin Anderson and Jarod Wilken each scored 15 off the bench with Anderson dishing out four assists.
For the Eagles, Kyle Kaemingk matched Silgen's game-high 27 points and added 13 rebounds for a double-double performance. Noah Alm added 17 points, while Solomon Bach picked up 15. Tanner Youngberg recorded a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double in his final UMAC game. The Eagles finish the season 19-7 overall.
SEMIFINAL 2: No. 2 Bethany Lutheran def. No. 3 Wisconsin-Superior, 92-72 | Box Score |
The Vikings and Yellowjackets were familiar foes as the two teams met just five days ago in the regular season finale on Saturday with the Vikings emerging victorious in a dominant performance earning the right to host Wednesday's semifinal. The tournament matchup between the two finished in similar fashion as the Vikings took over the game early and never looked back en route to victory.
The Vikings made the first two shots of the game to go up 5-0 and then quickly built a double-double lead less than seven minutes in when they went up 19-7. The Vikings hit 7-for-11 from beyond the arc in the in the first half in order to quickly get in front of the 'Jackets. They would finish the game 12-of-24 and shot and impressive 54.7 percent from the field.
There were several points in the first and second half where the Vikings appeared they may run away with the game going up by as many as 20 in the first half before the Yellowjackets managed to put on pressure and cut the lead down to 13 to start the second half. However, the Vikings continued to put the pressure on and eventually pulled away big for the win and the right to host the tournament title game for the second time in the last three seasons.
Cire Mayfield led all Viking scorers with a 22-point performance on 9-of-14 shooting and an impressive nine assists. Brian Smith and Jared Milinkovich had big performances adding 16 and 15 points, respectively, with Milinkovich picking up a team-high seven rebounds.
Allen Anderson finished the season with an incredible 31-point outing going 13-of-19 with four-made 3-point shots and five assists. Eli Vogel was the only other Yellowjacket in double figures with 13 points, while Vid Milenkovic had a game-high 12 rebounds. The Yellowjackets finish a strong season with a 16-10 overall record.
The No. 2 Vikings will host the No. 2 Saints in the conference tournament championship game Saturday at 5 p.m. in Mankato. The winner will earn the conference's automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA tournament.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Quarterfinal Round – Monday, Feb. 24
No. 4 St. Scholastica def. No. 5 Crown; 75-71 |
Box Score |
CC Recap |
CSS Recap |
Semifinal Round – Wednesday, Feb. 26
No. 4 St. Scholastica def No. 1 Northwestern, 85-82 |
Box Score |
CSS Recap |
UNW Recap |
No. 2 Bethany Lutheran def. No. 3 Wisconsin-Superior, 92-72 |
Box Score |
BLC Recap |
UWS Recap |
Championship – Saturday, Feb. 29
No. 4 St. Scholastica AT No. 2 Bethany Lutheran, Mankato, Minn., 5 p.m. |
Live Stats |
Live Video |
TICKET INFORMATION
- Adults, $10
- College students and seniors, $5
- Youth (Age 6-18), $5; age 5 and under, FREE
- Any UMAC students, faculty and staff are free with a valid and current institutional ID. No other passes will be accepted.
Tournament Championship Page