The Yellowjacket men's basketball team got its first look at a Division III foe on Friday night, after opening 2013-14 earlier in the week with a tough loss at Division II Minnesota Duluth. They were able to grab a lead early in the first half, but the hosts from Augsburg battled back, taking the lead late in the first half and eventually outlasting the Yellowjackets 80-73 in Minneapolis, Minn.

On the night the Yellowjackets were consistent, shooting 48.5% from the field in the first half and 48.4% in the second, but the Auggies were better, draining 51.9% of their shots on the night and outrebounding the Yellowjackets by a narrow margin.

The Yellowjackets jumped out to an early lead and used a 9-4 run to build a ten-point edge early. Freshman Tylin Hollis hit a three to give the Yellowjackets a 21-11 lead, but Augsburg slowly began to chip away at the lead. Augsburg countered with an 8-2 run to shave the lead to four less than three minutes later. An Aaron Corry (Lake Nebagamon, Wis./Northwestern) layup pushed the lead back to seven points, but the Augsburg rallied pulled even at 29-29 with just under five minutes to go in the half.

Augsburg took the lead a short time later, only to have Corry make another layup and tie the game at 23-23 with 1:28 to play in the half. Corry would follow with another layup to give the Yellowjackets the lead, their final lead of the night, but the Auggies would make the last two buckets of the first half and head to the locker room leading the Yellowjackets by two, 37-35.

Bronson Byrne (Chanhassen, Minn./Chaska) made a layup in the first minute of the second half to again draw the Yellowjackets even, but Augsburg quickly took the lead back. Five minutes in the Yellowjackets trailed by five, and the lead spiked to seven, 57-50 after the Auggies hit a three.

Then Jarrod Peterson (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) took over and pulled the Yellowjackets back into the game. Down seven, Peterson hit a pair of free throws and then followed with a three to shave the deficit to three. Another Peterson layup dropped Augsburg's lead to one, 60-59 with 9:10 remaining in the half.

Augsburg again built the lead as high as four points, but the Yellowjackets rallied. Peterson scored three straight points and Brian Lindblom (Spooner, Wis./Spooner) scored to give the Yellowjackets a one-point lead, 67-66, with 4:18 to play. The Auggies went on a 5-0 run to retake the lead and held the Yellowjackets off the rest of the way to get the seven-point victory.

Peterson led the Yellowjackets with a huge offensive night, scoring 32 points to lead both teams in scoring. Corry added 14 points and Hollis 10. Corry and Zach Schradle (Clayton, Wis.) each had eight rebounds to lead the team. Hollis had a team-best four assists.

Byrne had three blocks and Hollis three steals to lead the Yellowjackets defensively.

The Yellowjackets (0-2, 0-0 WIAC) will be back in action on Monday, November 25 when they travel to Duluth to take on Twin Ports rival St. Scholastica. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.