Box Score
Yellowjackets 69, Whitewater 66
Box Score
After a week of waiting to erase the unpleasant memories of a road loss to UW-Platteville, the UW-Superior men's basketball emerged ready to not only turn the page on their defeat against the Pioneers, but also determined to pick up their fourth win in five games while also gaining some valuable momentum heading into the regular season stretch run.
As it turned out, the Yellowjackets did that and a bit more, rallying from a first-half deficit and then holding off a late push by UW-Whitewater on the way to posting a 69-66 victory over the defending NCAA Division III champs at Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Yellowjackets improved to 7-9 overall on the season and upped their conference record to 3-4. The victory also snapped UW-Whitewater's three-game winning streak and dropped the Warhawks to 12-3 overall and 6-1 in league play.
With the game even 6-6 and 17:34 left in the first half, UW-Whitewater went on a 9-3 burst to take a 15-9 lead following a three-pointer by Eric Bryson with15:35 remaining in the opening stanza.
The Yellowjackets rallied right back, getting two layups from Aaron Corry (Lake Nebagamon, Wis./Northwestern) and Brendan Bauer (Eleva, Wis./Gilmanton) along with an inside score from Bronson Byrne (Chanhassen, Minn./Chaska) to even matters 17-17 at the 10:41 mark.
UW-Whitewater would score four the next six points for a 21-19 Warhawks lead after a layup by Luke Knoble with 5:51 remaining in the first half.
UW-Superior responded however, outscoring the Warhawks 13-8 in the final five minutes of the half to take a 32-29 lead into intermission following a short jumper by Johnquez Brooks (North Las Vegas, Nev./Valley) in the final 10 seconds of the frame.
A Darnell Harris three-pointer on the opening possession of the second half evened matters again at 32-32 with 19:44 remaining in regulation.
The Yellowjackets bounced back, retaking the lead on consecutive layups by Byrne and Bauer before expanding the advantage to 48-43 on a three-pointer by Jarrod Peterson (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) with 13:16 showing on the clock.
UW-Superior continued to build the advantage from there, taking their largest lead of the game at 59-49 following another three by Peterson at the 9:05 mark of the second half.
The Warhawks steadily sliced into the deficit over the next eight minutes, cutting the Yellowjackets' lead to 67-65 on a layup by Quardell Young with 1:08 left in regulation.
Following a timeout, UW-Whitewater nearly completed the comeback as Young was fouled by Brooks going towards the basket in the final six seconds of the game.
Young only converted one of two free throws however, preserving a one-point Yellowjackets' edge at 67-66 with five seconds remaining on the clock.
A Warhawks' foul resulted in two more free throws by Peterson, giving UW-Superior a 69-66 lead before Harris' last second three-point attempt rimmed out, preserving the win for the Yellowjackets.
Peterson led the way for the Yellowjackets with 20 points, connecting on 6-of-9 from the field while also hauling in a team-leading seven rebounds. Byrne added 16 points while Bauer finished with 15 points on the afternoon.
UW-Whitewater was paced by Knoble's game-high 21 points. Young finished with 11 points for the Warhawks as well.
The Yellowjackets hit the road to take on UW-River Falls on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The game can be heard locally on 91.3 FM KUWS with Matt Johnson on the call.
