Yellowjackets Season Ends as Last Second Shot Falls Short

Box Score

Minnesota Morris 83, Yellowjackets 80

The Yellowjacket men's basketball team was in action Monday taking part in the first round of the UMAC playoffs. This marks the first time the Yellowjackets have played in the post season since the 2012-13 season when the Yellowjackets played UW-Stout in the WIAC playoffs.

This time around, it marked a rematch against the Cougars of Minnesota Morris. The Yellowjackets split the season series against the Cougars, winning by a final of 85-74 at Morris while falling by a final of 78-75 at Superior.

It a game that was a fight to the finish, the Yellowjackets saw their season come to an end as they fell to Morris by a final of 83-80.

The Yellowjackets came out strong in this matchup, building a 14-6 lead with 11:33 remaining on a Zach Schradle (Clayton, Wis./Clayton) jumper. Morris managed to cut the Yellowjacket lead to 16-12 with 9:54 remaining, but Montroy Scott (Fridley, Minn./Columbia Heights) hit a 3-pointer on the Yellowjackets next possession to put the lead back to seven at 19-12.

The Cougars then went on an 8-2 run over the next four minutes to cut the Yellowjacket lead down to one, at 21-20, with 5:50 remaining in the first half. This time Trevor Oswald (Isle, Minn./Isle) hit a 3-pointer to push the Yellowjacket lead up to 24-20 as they looked to hold off Minnesota Morris. The Cougars ended up closing out the half on a 9-0 run, as the Yellowjackets went into halftime trailing 33-27.

The second half started out about as poorly as a half could for the Yellowjackets. Morris scored the first nine points of the half, as they pushed their lead to 42-27 with 18:15 remaining. A Brian Lindblom (Spooner, Wis./Spooner) jumper with 18:02 remaining stopped the run, but the Cougars kept pouring it on as they saw their lead grow to 72-52 with 5:27 remaining in the game.

It appeared as though the Yellowjackets were out of luck in this matchup. They were struggling to score, while Morris appeared to be scoring at-will. Those who tuned out early in this game missed an amazing comeback attempt from the Yellowjackets.

Cade Stackpool (Virginia, Minn./Virginia) hit a 3-pointer with 5:06 remaining to cut the lead down to 72-55, but Morris answered with a layup of their own on the next possession. After a myriad of missed shots by both teams over the next couple of minutes, Lindblom hit a layup with 3:28 remaining to cut the Cougars lead down to 74-57. The layup was the 1,000 point of Lindblom's career and it appeared to be the exact spark the Yellowjackets needed.

Marquise Slay (Detroit, Mich./Ferndale) got a steal and was fouled with 2:47 remaining, so he went to the line to shoot two free throws. Slay hit the first and missed the second, but a huge hustle play from Taylor Mattison (Sturgeon Lake, Minn./Moose Lake-Willow River) secured the offensive rebound. Mattison then found Slay open at the 3-point arc and he buried it to cut the Morris lead to 74-61.

The deficit was cut down to 74-63 following a Lindblom layup with 2:01 remaining. Then with 1:24 remaining Schradle was fouled on a 3-point attempt, and hit all three ensuing free throws to cut the Cougars lead to 75-66.

The Yellowjackets were then forced to foul, and Morris hit both of their free throws to go up 77-66 with 1:13 remaining. Lindblom then hit a jumper with 1:04 remaining to cut the Morris lead back down to nine points at 77-68.

Once again the Yellowjackets were forced to foul, but this time Morris only hit one of two free throws. The Yellowjackets came down on the offensive end, and this time Lindblom was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer. Lindblom hit two of three from the line to cut the Morris lead down to 78-70 with 0:50 remaining in the game.

Morris then turned the ball over on their next possession, and Lindblom made them pay, hitting a layup with 0:47 remaining to cut the Cougar's lead won to 78-72. Schradle then stole the ball on the next Morris possession, and was immediately fouled. He hit both free throws, as a 20 point deficit turned into only a four point deficit, at 78-74, with 0:42 remaining.

Once again the Yellowjackets were forced to foul, and once again the Cougars only hit one of two from the free throw line. Lindblom got an open look from beyond the 3-point arc with 0:34 remaining, but his shot was off the mark. Montroy Scott (Fridley, Minn./Columbia Heights) then flew in to get the offensive rebound, and found Slay wide open beyond the arc, as Slay buried the shot to cut the deficit down to 79-77 with 0:29 remaining.

The Yellowjackets quickly fouled the Cougars, as they hit both free thows to go up 81-77 with 0:26 remaining. Schradle then missed a 3-pointer with 0:19 remaining, and the Yellowjackets had to foul once more. Thankfully, Morris only hit one of two, as the Yellowjackets hurried down the court to get a quick bucket. Once again it was Slay hitting the open 3-pointer to cut the Morris lead down to 82-80 with 0:10 remaining.

Down two points, the Yellowjackets were forced to foul once again, and as they had previously, the Cougars only hit one of two from the free throw line. The Yellowjackets then quickly got the ball in and pushed it up the court. Schradle baited two defenders over to him, and found Lindblom open beyond the arc for the tying 3-poitner. Unfortunately the shot was just off the mark, as the Yellowjackets fell in a thriller.

Schradle led the Yellowjackets in this matchup, finishing with a team-leading 24 points and eight rebounds. Lindblom finished with 20 points and seven rebounds. Lindblom ends his Yellowjacket career with 1,004 points.

Stackpool had 11 points for the Yellowjackets, while Slay finished with 10 in his final collegiate game.

Morris was led by CD Douglas, who had a game-high 37 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists. Tyler Ukkelberg finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, while John Haseman and Dylan Erickson had 14 and 10 points respectively.

The Yellowjackets shot 39.7% from the field, going 11-32 beyond the 3-point arc, while hitting 15-22 from the free throw line.

The Cougars shot 48.2% from the field, going 5-15 from beyond the 3-point arc, while hitting 24-35 from the free throw line.

The Yellowjackets had eight turnovers in the game. Minnesota Morris finished with 13.

The Yellowjackets end the 2015-16 season with a 12-14 overall record. They went 8-8 in conference play.

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Players Mentioned

#44 Marquise Slay: F; 6' 3"; Senior

#33 Brian Lindblom: F; 6' 6"; Senior

#34 Taylor Mattison: F; 6' 6"; Senior

#24 Zach Schradle: G; 6' 5"; Junior

#4 Cade Stackpool: G; 6' 0"; Junior

#2 Montroy Scott: G; 6' 2"; Freshman

#14 Trevor Oswald: G; 6' 3"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#44 Marquise Slay
: 6' 3"; Senior
: F

#33 Brian Lindblom
: 6' 6"; Senior
: F

#34 Taylor Mattison
: 6' 6"; Senior
: F

#24 Zach Schradle
: 6' 5"; Junior
: G

#4 Cade Stackpool
: 6' 0"; Junior
: G

#2 Montroy Scott
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: G

#14 Trevor Oswald
: 6' 3"; Freshman
: G

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Yellowjackets Season Ends as Last Second Shot Falls Short

Players Mentioned

#44 Marquise Slay

#33 Brian Lindblom

#34 Taylor Mattison

#24 Zach Schradle

#4 Cade Stackpool

#2 Montroy Scott

#14 Trevor Oswald

Players Mentioned

#44 Marquise Slay

#33 Brian Lindblom

#34 Taylor Mattison

#24 Zach Schradle

#4 Cade Stackpool

#2 Montroy Scott

#14 Trevor Oswald