02/24/06

After watching #3 seed Bethany Lutheran College upset #2 Northwestern College -- the team that shared the regular season crown with the Saints -- #1 St. Scholastica knew that the old cliche, any given Sunday, could ring true in the second semi-final of the evening in the Reif Center.

Taking care of business, though, the Saints made a 39-33 halftime lead stand up as they toppled the #4 Cougars 86-76 to earn their way into the conference title game on Saturday. The win was the second in a row for the Saints over Morris, a welcome turn about after losing their opening game of the conference schedule as an unwelcome visitor on the Cougars' home court back in early January.

Through the opening eight minutes the teams traded the lead three times and were tied seven times until the Saints began to pull away with an 8-0 run that put the Saints ahead 25-17 with 8:16 to play in the half.

They stretched their lead to 12 but Morris fought back with a 6-0 run to close out the half, trimming the lead to 6.

In the second half, St. Scholastica simply couldn't shake the Cougars. It's playoff basketball and nothing was going to come easy for the Saints.

A seven point early second half lead became a two point deficit in a little less than three minutes. Grabbing the lead again and pushing the margin to six with 10:13 to go became, yet again, a deficit with 6:44 to go.

Finally, though, the Saints pushed to a lead they would hold to the buzzer. Sophomore Brady Zubke scored 6 points over the final 4:40 but it was the 'how' that ignited the team and crowd. Andy Schmitz hit Zubke as he was slicing in from the right of the basket and he brought the crowd to their feet with a dunk over a helpless Cougar.

After a William Maupins rebound and streaking layup to give the Saints a 6 point edge, Zubke went at it again. This time, Maupins tossed a perfect lob to a high flying Zubke for a thunderous alley-oop dunk that stirred the raucous crowd to a frenzy. The best crowd of the season roared with approval, yet grew even louder with a Morris turnover after the monster slam from Zubke.

Not done yet, neither the Saints nor the crowd, Derek Johnson stoked the fire even higher with a 3-point bomb -- off an assist from, who else but Maupins.

Forced to foul down the stretch, the Cougars had to attack whichever Saint received the inbounds pass after any Morris points or turnover. Pity the team that has to watch the #2 free throw shooter in the nation catch the ball every, single inbounds play.

With that honor, Andy Schmitz cooly stepped to the line six times in the Saints' closing 10-0 run, converted all 6 and finished the game 8 for 8 and as the team's leading scorer with 22 points on the night.

Johnson added 20, while Maupins ended with 6 points, 6 assists, 2 blocks and 3 steals. Senior Robert Jackson was also in double-figures for the Saints chipping in with 13 points.

Next up are the Vikings from Bethany Lutheran, a red-hot team with an up-tempo game and a pressure defense. In the opening semi-final game, Bethany's Alfonso Mayfield had the assignment of trying to shut down Player of the Year candidate Joseph Sir from Northwestern. Sir finished the first half with 2 points, no rebounds and a turnover. Mayfield scored 14. Slap.

The Championship game tip off is at 7 p.m. on Saturday, February 25 in the Reif at St. Scholastica. A post-game awards ceremony will include the announcement of the 2005/2006 UMAC All-Conference Team and All-Defensive team as well as the presentation of the Tournament trophy and Tourney MVP award. The women's All-Conference team and Defensive squad will be announced at the intermission of the championship final