Seventeen second-half points.

That’s all the St. James Saints could muster, as Blue Earth Area rebounded from a 25-18 halftime deficit to eke out a 44-42 win in Blue Earth Feb. 20.

“We were able to hold Saints guard Austin Pinke scoreless in the second half which was key to our being able to come back,” says Bucs coach Gary Holm-seth.

Pinke wasn’t the only one giving the Bucs trouble in the first half.

Employing a very pati-ent, deliberate offense, the Saints were able to get good looks at the basket and they made the most of their opportunities.

Saints forward Charles Kolstad scored seven first half points — missing only once from the floor — while teammate Ben Tonsager, a 6-foot-4 sophomore center, was perfect. He scored six points on three shots. Add in Pinke’s eight points –including two shots from behind the arc — and it seemed the Saints could do little wrong.

In fact, the Bucs’ only leads of the first half came on Nick Lee’s opening basket and later when a Brady Anderson layup temporarily put the Bucs up 8-7. However, the Saints took the lead for the rest of the half.

Garrett Anderson opened the second half with two baskets, pulling the Bucs within three points.

The Saints answered with two baskets of their own, taking a 29-22 lead.

A feed from Nate Carr gave Charlie Garlick a basket underneath, followed by a Nick Lee jumper, pulling the Bucs within three. They got within one when Carr scored off an inbounds play to make the score 29-28 in favor of the Saints.

The Saints again refused to surrender the lead. Tonsager’s basket put their advantage at seven points, 37-30. That brought Holm-seth off the bench to call a timeout at the 5:29 mark.

The Bucs were ready to make another run at the Saints. Garlick got things started when he scored off an offensive rebound, pull-ing the Bucs within five points of the Saints.

“Charlie Garlick had one of his best games ever, maybe the best of his career,” says Holmseth.

The senior pulled down nine rebounds while scoring seven points.

Anderson got the ball back for the Bucs, drawing a charging foul against Pinke as he drove down the lane to the basket.

Brady Anderson connected on a short jumper and turned a half court steal into a layup, pulling the Bucs within one point at 37-36.

The teams traded baskets until Garrett Anderson scored underneath after a hard fought battle for the rebound — putting Blue Earth Area up 40-39 with 2:24 remaining.

After a Saints’ free throw tied the game at 40, Anderson put the Bucs on top for good with a basket making it 42-40.

Garlick grabbed a big defensive rebound off a missed 3-point attempt. Later he was fouled and converted one of two free throws with 17 seconds showing on the clock. The Bucs maintained possession and Carr went to the line with 14.8 seconds left. He made one of two to give the Bucs a 44-40 lead.

Kolstad tallied the final points of the night – as his basket with 5.3 seconds left made it 44-42 in favor of the Bucs.

Nick Lee and Garrett Anderson each scored 12 points for the Bucs, whose record improved to 14-7 overall.

Anderson matched Gar-lick with nine boards.

Kolstad led the Saints with 13 points followed by Tonsager who finished with 12.