02/10/07

In completing a weekend sweep on Saturday night with a win over then-UMAC leader Northwestern College (17-5, 9-2 UMAC) , the fourth place Saints (10-12, 7-4 UMAC) gave themselves a little breathing room in the conference standings and the race to finish among the top four at the end of the regular season.

With only four teams qualifying for the postseason UMAC tournament, the Saints have used a pair of road wins on Friday and Saturday night to break away from Presentation College (8-13, 5-6 UMAC), losers of both of their weekend games. St. Scholastica's 95-83 defeat of Northwestern at the Ericksen Center in St. Paul on Saturday follows their win at Crown College on Friday night and pulls them to within one half game of third place Martin Luther College.

Against the Eagles on Saturday evening, St. Scholastica's Derek Johnson poured in 23 first half points on his way to a season-high 36. Johnson helped spur the visiting Saints to a 51-35 halftime lead behind 8-of-13 shooting from the field including 7-of-11 from behind the 3-point line. He finished with eight three pointers and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the second half.

Also reaching double figures in scoring for the Saints was Will Maupins with 20 points, Brady Zubke with 12, and Nate Griff with 11.

The Saints rocketed out of the gate with a first half in which they shot 58 percent from the field, never trailing throughout the entire game after Johnson hit a 3-pointer to open the game's scoring. They led by as many as 21 early in the second half before the Eagles would whittle the margin to it's final 12 points in the end.

St. Scholastica closes out their season with only three more games, including one against Presentation, and another at Northland College, one of the three teams ahead of them in the league standings with eight conference victories.