02/03/06

Behind 30-19 entering halftime, St. Scholastica fought back to tie things up in the second half and send the game to overtime, but were outscored 7-4 in the extra period in falling to visiting Presentation College, 59-56.

The loss was the second in a row for the Saints after reeling off seven conference wins in a row to vault to the top of the UMAC standings. Tonight's loss on their home court at the Reif Center also ended a six game home winning streak.

Poor shooting in the first half, including an 0 for 5 mark from the 3-point line, put the Saints in a hole to the hot-shooting Saints from Presentation. The visitors shot 53% from the field in the opening half.

Presentation also kept Saints leading scorer Derek Johnson scoreless until the second half, and only three Saints scored in the opening frame. Josh Gosar led the Saints with 9 points.

The Saints defense pressured Presentation to under 32% shooting in the second half, though, and their defense created the offense that was missing early in the game.

St. Scholastica used a 17-4 run to open the second half and grab their first lead since 3:24 into the game. They continued their surge and built a 6 point lead with just 2:59 to go.

Presentation cut the lead to 2 with 49 seconds remaining, though. A missed shot by the home Saints eventually led to the tying bucket from Presentation and, as time expired, a miss from Andy Schmitz sent the game into overtime.

St. Scholastica scored first in OT on a short jumper by Gosar but Presentation tied it up with a layup after a Saints turnover.

Presentation converted two free throws to take the lead but Brady Zubke sank a jumper to tie things up at 56.

A clutch 3-pointer from the visitors on their next possession gave them back the lead, 59-56.

With the clock winding down under 45 seconds, the home Saints snared a defensive board, raced up court but missed a tying 3-pointer. William Maupins got the rebound for the Saints and kicked the ball out to the perimeter where they missed another 3-pointer. Schmitz got his own rebound off the miss and the Saints called their last time out to set up one final play.

With 6 seconds on the clock, Johnson took the shot but it was off the mark and when Presentation grabbed the rebound, the Saints' home streak was over.

Gosar ended up leading the Saints with 17 on the night while Johnson scored all 11 of his points in the second half. Maupins, who had only 2 boards, no blocks and 1 steal at halftime, finished with a game leading 12 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 steals.

Out rebounded in the opening half, the Saints were much tougher in the second half and finished with 36, the same as Presentation. St. Scholastica also had a much better half of shooting in the second, raising their field goal percentage from 31% to 44%. They were still betrayed by only 17% shooting from beyond the 3-point line, though.