No.1 Saints, No. 2 Eagles win in semifinals to set up familiar UMAC men's basketball championship contest
ST. PAUL, Minn.—The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) men’s basketball 2021 postseason tournament started off in exciting fashion with close finishes in several games that saw the top four seeds emerge victorious to advance to the semifinal round Saturday.
No. 1 St. Scholastica built a big first-half lead en roue to a 71-53 win over No. 4 Bethany Lutheran College in the first semifinal. No. 2 Northwestern held off a strong No. 3 North Central University squad for a 67-51 win. The No. 2 Eagles will travel to Duluth, Minnesota, to meet the No. 1 Saints for the title game Monday at 7 p.m.
Tournament Championship Page |
Bracket |
No. 1 St. Scholastica def. No. 4 Bethany Lutheran, 71-53 | Box Score |
No. 1 St. Scholastica built a 10-point lead less than five minutes into the game and never looked back en route to a big win over No. 4 Bethany Lutheran to advance to a second-consecutive UMAC tournament championship game.
- The top-seeded Saints used a solid performance in all aspects of the game including a 43-42 advantage in rebounding. The Saints held the Vikings to just 33 percent shooting and took advantage of 17 Viking rebounds for 19 points.
- Isiah Hendrickson led all players and the Saints with 18 points and three steals, while Nick Carlson and Quinn Fischer score 12 and 11 points, respectively. Jack Silgen led the rebounding effort with nine.
- Brian Smith and Justin Schrupp each scored nine points to lead the Viking offense. Hunter Nielsen tallied 10 rebounds and added eight points and three blocks.
No. 2 Northwestern def. No. 3 North Central, 67-51 | Box Score |
No. 2 Northwestern ended the final three minutes of the first half on a 8-2 run to take a 37-29 lead into halftime before pulling away even more late in the second half to defeat No. 3 North Central to advance to the title game.
- The Eagles made a living in the paint (40 points) and shot nearly 50 percent from the field for a strong offensive performance. They also out-rebounded the Rams 43-28.
- Henry Fahnbulleh led the Eagles with an impressive 24-point, 11-rebound double-double on 10-of-12 shooting from the field. Kyle Kaemingk added 20 points and eight rebounds as well as a pair of assists.
- Justin Castro led the Rams with 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and recorded a game-high six assists. Cameron Thomas picked up 13 points and had a team-high seven rebounds.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
**Game times vary due to institutional COVID-19 protocols and schools hosting multiple games.
Quarterfinal Round – Thursday, March 4
- No. 1 St. Scholastica def. No. 8 Northland, 86-71 | Box Score |
- No. 2 Northwestern def. No. 7 Martin Luther, 71-60 | Box Score |
- No. 3 North Central def. No. 6 Minnesota Morris, 65-57 | Box Score |
- No. 4 Bethany Lutheran def. No. 5 Wisconsin-Superior, 71-70 | Box Score |
Semifinal Round – Saturday, March 6
- No. 1 St. Scholastica def. No. 4 Bethany Lutheran, 71-53 | Box Score |
- No. 2 Northwestern def. No. 3 North Central, 67-51 | Box Score |
Championship – Monday, March 8
SPECTATORS
Spectators will only be allowed at the discretion of each institution. |
UMAC Institutional Spectator Policies |
Tournament Championship Page