SUPERIOR, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team notched their fourth conference win Wednesday night, defeating UW-Superior, 80-69 at Superior.
The Blugolds and Yellowjackets played a back-and-forth game for a good portion of the first half. Superior took a 13-11 lead with 12:51 but that would be the last basket the Yellowjackets would make for the next six minutes. The Blugolds had no trouble hitting shots during that stretch, and used an 11-0 run to take a 22-13 lead with 6:31 left. The Blugolds would close the half on 14-9 run to take a 36-24 lead into the locker room.
The Yellowjackets fought their way back in the second half, cutting the lead to seven before the Blugold defense forced several Yellowjacket turnovers.
Superior got the lead down to eight with a free throw from Zach Schradle but a jumper from Tyson Kalien (Jr.-Chippewa Falls, WI) extended Eau Claire's lead back to 10 points. The Blugolds built their lead back to 12 points, but Superior's Taylor Mattison answered with five straight points to cut the lead down to seven with 15:24 left.
That was as close as Superior would get for a while. Eau Claire kept its lead between seven and 12 points for the majority of the half. Two free throws by Lewis Mau (Sr.-Colfax, WI) extended the lead to 16 points with 10:09 left.
And again Eau Claire built the lead back up. With 3:37 left, a jumper and foul by Minnich cut the deficit to seven points, 69-62. Minnich drilled the free throw to pull Superior within six. But a three-pointer by Eric Effertz (Sr.-Ladysmith, WI) would end all comeback hopes for Superior.The Blugolds hit six-of-eight free throws in the last few minutes to seal the game.
Eau Claire shot 57.1 percent from the field and 53.8 percent from three (7-of-13) for the game while Superior shot 46.9 percent and 35.3 percent from three.
Kalien and Mau lead the Blugolds with 18 and 17 points, respectively. George Diekelman (Fr.-Stevens Point, WI) chipped in 14 and Effertz added 12.
Superior's Ty Ketz led all scorers with 19 points.
The Blugolds (8-12, 4-7 WIAC) will return to the road on Saturday, traveling to Whitewater to take on the Warhawks at 5 p.m.
-JM-
