01/27/06

The Saints kept their winning streak alive with an 87-83 road win at Martin Luther College in New Ulm Friday evening. Derek Johnson and Andy Schmitz were the leading scorers in the game, Johnson with 21 points and Schmitz with 19.

St. Scholastica was able to break out to a 50-42 halftime lead mostly behind Johnson's 14 points which included four 3-pointers. The Saints shot 63% from the field in the opening half and were 6 for 11 from the 3-point arc while the Knights from Martin Luther were 0 for 3.

The opening 10 minutes of the first half was a see-saw battle with eight lead changes and three ties, but at 9:31 to go and knotted at 22-22, Robert Jackson sank two free throws to give the Saints a lead they would lengthen through the end of the half.

During the first five minutes of the second half, the Saints pushed their lead to as many as 20 points. With just under eight minutes to go, though, the lead was down to 13 when Martin Luther began a 10-0 run to cut the margin to 3.

Schmitz then hit back to back 3-pointers that pushed the lead to 9 with 1:22 to go, ending the threat.

50% free throw shooting by the Saints down the final stretch made things a little more interesting but they still prevailed for their seventh UMAC win of the season, and seventh win in a row.

Brady Zubke had perhaps his best game since returning from an early season injury. He finished with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks.