UW-Superior 72, Northwestern 65

SUPERIOR, Wis. (February 7, 2018) – The 'Jackets won their fourth UMAC contest, getting a convincing win, making the comeback early in the second half, and holding the lead.

Vid Milenkovic (Zurich, Switzerland/DSB Belgrade, Serbia) answered the first Eagle basket with a 3-pointer on a pass from Shaq Coleman (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East), followed by a hard-fought Colton Williams (Columbia Heights, Minn. /Columbia Heights) layup to take an early 5-4 lead. Montroy Scott (Fridley, Minn./Columbia Heights) would add a three of his own, Milenkovic assisting, to make it a 10-6 game; the 'Jackets were playing well, making their first five shots.

Mac Reykdal (Washburn, Wis./Washburn) added a 3-pointer at the 13:03 mark, getting the shot after a nifty pump-fake and stepback. Northwestern would then add a few quick baskets to take a 24-17 lead on the 'Jackets. Superior would dig into the lead at the 4:52 mark when Scott found the offensive rebound after a miss for the tip-in, and the Yellowjackets would get a key stop at 2:47 on the shot-clock violation. Williams would then get a Coleman-assisted 3-pointer to make it a 28-24 Eagle led game.

Milenkovic and Williams added four points in the final minutes make it just a four-point, 32-28 deficit at halftime.

Milenkovic would begin the second half the same way he did the first, hitting the 3-pointer, this time assisted by Nate Kalien (Chippewa Falls, Wis./Chippewa Falls). Williams then hit two-straight threes to get ahead of the Eagles 37-34.

Williams would then find the hot-hand, scoring eight points on two 3-pointers and a layup to help the Yellowjackets to a 45-41 lead, followed by two contested layups from Milenkovic and Coleman to make it 49-43 'Jackets.

Some good passing from the Yellowjackets would produce a few good buckets, including an and-one layup from Milenkovic to get up 57-53. Coleman then knocked down a tough 2-point jumper at the shot clock buzzer to get the lead to eight points, and Milenkovic on the fastbreak to make it 65-57.

Kalien found his first basket of the game on a corner-three at the three-minute mark, and the 'Jackets would make two-straight stops on defense to hold a 68-64 lead with 1:03 remaining.

One more stop at 27.7 and force the Eagles to foul, giving Milenkovic back-to-back free throws, getting a six-point lead, and Coleman would hit two more to take a 72-65 victory.  

It was a game of streaks, as the game changed leads five times, and tied twice. Milenkovic led all scorers with 22 points, hitting 8-of-9 shots, and 4-of-5 free throws. Williams was right behind him with 20 points, shooting 50 percent from the field. Coleman also had a nice line, getting 14 points, six rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Scott was also in double-digits, getting 10 points and five rebounds.

The Eagles had three players in double-digit scoring, including Tanner Youngberg with 20 points.

Superior will travel to Bethany Lutheran this Saturday, taking on the Vikings in Mankato at 3 p.m.