UW-Superior 82, Luther College 73

SUPERIOR, Wis. (November 25, 2017) – Superior was hot from all areas of the court Saturday night, hitting 58 percent of their shots in a win on the first round of the Merrill Thompson Classic. Shaq Coleman (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East) led the Yellowjackets with 24 points on the night.

The teams were neck-and-neck in the first half, including four ties, and seven lead changes. A 2-point jumpshot from Montroy Scott (Fridley, Minn./Columbia Heights), assisted by Nate Kalien (Chippewa Falls, Wis./Chippewa Falls), would get the Yellowjackets on the board, behind 3-2. Superior would tie the game at 17-17 on a Tirik Reeves (Fridley, Minn./Fridley) layup at the 9:30 mark of the half, and then find their groove after a Colton Williams (Columbia Heights, Minn. /Columbia Heights) lay-in six minutes later. Superior would then go on a 9-2 run to end the half, which was capped by a Vid Milenkovic (Zurich, Switzerland/DSB Belgrade, Serbia) 3-pointer, assisted by Scott. Superior would end the half up 38-31.

Superior would hold a nine-point lead after Coleman added two points in the paint. Kalien would continue the nine-point stretch on a 3-pointer assisted by Coleman. Superior seemed to roll after this point, getting their largest lead of 14 points on a Milenkovic 3-pointer, assisted by Kalien. The Norse saw some daylight when they cut the lead to two points around five minutes, but the Yellowjackets turned it on once again, going on an 8-0 capped by a Coleman jumper. The final buzzer would sound in victory.

Coleman scored a team-high 24 points for the Yellowjackets, and added five rebounds and two assists to his line. Williams and Milenkovic shot the ball at a high percentage with 16 and 23 points respectively. Milenkovic also had a double-double with 10 rebounds. Kalien finished 3-of-4 from the 3-point line, and Scott had eight points.

The 'Jackets shot a great 64 percent from 3-point range, hitting 9-of-14, and 9-of-10 from the free throw line.

Luther's Jared Nicolaisen scored a game-high 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting.

The Yellowjackets will continue the Merrill Thompson Classic tomorrow, taking on UW-Stout at 4 p.m. in the Mertz.