01/12/07

Revenge was sweet for Northwestern College Friday evening as the Eagles were able to reverse the result of two losses to St. Scholastica in last year’s regular season, then lost in the UMAC tournament semifinals only to have to watch the Saints take the conference tournament title.

This season looks to be a different story, though, as Northwestern blew into the Reif Center on St. Scholastica’s campus and were able to bank an 11-point win into their conference tally.

A competitive game in the first half saw the Saints and Eagles trade the lead eight times but a 6-0 run by Northwestern allowed the visitors open up a lead that would become a 40-35 margin as the two teams entered the halftime locker rooms.

The second half increased its pace as the two teams combined for 100 points over the final 20 minutes but Northwestern scored the initial five points of the half to stretch the lead to 10 and the Saints weren’t able to trim that to less than five over the remaining minutes as they dropped their ninth game of the season following a championship campaign in which they lost a total of ten all year.

St. Scholastica’s Will Maupins had a game-high and career-high 30 points in the loss. He also led the Saints in rebounds with eight. Fellow captain Brady Zubke added 19 for the night.

Five Northwestern players reached double figures, two surpassing the 20-point mark as Steve Discher (24) and Josh Strelecki (21) helped lead the Eagles (10-3, 2-0 UMAC) to the 93-82 conference win.

The Saints (4-9, 1-1) will try to get back on the winning track with a Saturday contest against UMAC foe Crown College. Tip off is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Reif on St. Scholastica’s campus.