DULUTH, Minn.-- North Central continued it's hot shooting and Luke Chafin reached a career scoring milestone on Saturday in Duluth. The Rams shot over 50 percent from the floor for the second straight night and won the rebounding battle to earn a 69-61 road win over The College of St. Scholastica.

North Central (6-7, 2-1 UMAC) fell behind early in the first half in their third straight road game to start Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play on Saturday. After St. Scholastica led by as many as nine in the first half a strong surge in the final five minutes of half gave the Rams a 28-26 lead with less than 90 second left. CSS hit a shot with 44 seconds left before junior Luke Chafin (Dayton, Ohio/Troy Christian) nailed a jumper with 6 seconds remaining that allowed NCU a 30-28 lead at the break.

The teams exchanged the lead multiple times throughout the second half with neither team able to hold momentum. North Central jumped in front, 56-55, on a lay-up from senior Jordan Harrell (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) with 6:38 left. Luke Chafin then seized control of game for the Rams by scoring 10 of the Rams final 13 points down the stretch to carry NCU to the victory. 

North Central got in front by seven points with 4:30 left before the Saints trimmed the difference to three and looked to have momentum in their favor. Ahead just 62-59, Chafin hit a jumper with around two minutes remaining and then pulled down a rebound on defense. In the ensuing posession he was fouled and hit both free throws with 1:03 left to give the Rams back a seven point advantage that proved enough to seal the win.

Luke Chafin led all scorers with 18 points and 10 rebounds along with 5 assists. Chafin also reached the 1000 point scoring barrier with his first made field goal four minutes into the game. He is the 21st player in NCU history to reach that mark and needs less than 60 points to move into the top 20 in the scoring records. Chafin currently stands at 1017 points.

Chafin led four Rams in double figures including Cody Martin (Savage, Minn./Burnsville) who scored 11 points with 3 assists and just 1 turnover at the point guard spot. Junior Josh High (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) also added 11 points. Jordan Harrell scored 10 points despite playing just 15 minutes due to fouling out.

The Rams moved to 2-1 in UMAC action and will get back to work next weekend in their first home action in league play. Friday, the Rams host Bethany Lutheran College (Mankato, Minn.) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, North Central hosts Martin Luther College (New Ulm, Minn.) at 5 p.m.