Edgewood 73, Yellowjackets 67
Box Score

Coming off an impressive victory over Finlandia in their opening game of the Merrill Thompson Tipoff Classic on Friday night, the UW-Superior men's basketball team entered Saturday's championship game against Edgewood full of confidence.

But coming off an impressive win of their own against Lake Superior State the previous day, the Eagles jumped on the Yellowjackets early on the way to taking a 36-22 lead into halftime.

UW-Superior refused to quit in the second half, rallying all the way back to even matters 59-59 with 3:24 remaining in the contest.

A series of big plays by Ben Wiesniewski, Derek Nkemnji and Cashton Craig proved to be the difference however as Edgewood responded down the stretch to claim a hard-fought 73-67 victory at Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium.

The two sides traded advantages through the opening five minutes before the Eagles pulled ahead at 20-14 after a three-pointer by Tal Diekvoss with 10:29 remaining in the first half.

The Yellowjackets (2-1) closed to within 20-16 on the next possession after a jumper by Eric Effertz (Ladysmith, Wis./Ladysmith) with 9:43 left in the frame.

Edgewood (3-0) continued to pull away over the next several minutes, taking their largest lead of the half at 33-18 following Dylan Rusch's floater in the paint with 3:30 showing on the clock before heading to the locker-room holding a comfortable 36-22 edge.

UW-Superior would steadily climb back into the game in the second half, cutting the Eagles' lead to 49-43 on back-to-back three's from Adam Hjelter (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson) with 10:33 left in regulation.

Back-to-back layups from Bronson Byrne (Chanhassen, Minn./Chaska) brought the Yellowjackets within 51-49 with 7:03 remaining before a three-pointer from Brendan Bauer (Eleva, Wis./Gilmanton) and an inside score from Walter Charlton (Nassau, Bahamas/Teleos Christian) finally evened matters at 59-59 at the 3:24 mark.

Edgewood would respond by getting a three from Craig, a jumper from Joe Klocek and a driving layup from Wiesniewski to give the Eagles a 66-61 lead with 1:43 showing on the clock.

The Yellowjackets would get within two twice in the final 23 seconds, at 67-65 and 69-67 following two more layups from Byrne.

Craig would seal the game at the line however, knocking down four free throws in the final 10 seconds to give Edgewood the victory.

UW-Superior was paced by Hjelter with 16 points while Byrne added 15 points, Bauer 14 and Ben Aalfs (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson) 10 for the Yellowjackets.

Edgewood was led by Craig's game-high 17 points.  Wiesniewski added 15 points while Nkemnji finished with 11 points for the Eagles as well.

The Yellowjackets hit the road to face UMD at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.