DULUTH, Minn. - The Martin Luther College men's basketball team was unable to slow down the hot-shooting Saints of St. Scholastica in a 98-80 loss on Saturday.

The Saints made 12 of 29 attempts from beyond the three-point arc, and outscored MLC 36-15 from downtown for the game. They also outscored the Knights 22-13 at the foul line.

MLC was in good shape late in the first half, trailing 38-34 with 3:30 to play before the Saints ended the half on a 12-4 run to take a 50-38 lead into the break.

The CSS run continued after the teams left the locker room, as the Saints put the game out of reach with a 21-8 run to open the second half. The Knights cut the deficit to 14 with less than four minutes to play, but were unable to come any closer down the stretch.

Ian Paulsen led MLC with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Luke Rothe and Austin DeNoyer each scored 11 points off the bench.

The Knights fell to 1-20 overall and 0-13 in UMAC play in defeat. CSS improved to 13-9 on the season and 9-4 in league play with the win.

MLC will return to action on Friday, February 10, when it travels to Finlandia for a game scheduled to tip off at 7:30 p.m.