It had been over a month since the UW-Superior men's basketball team had won a game.
All that changed on Wednesday night however as the Yellowjackets jumped out to an early lead and then held off second half rally for a 75-68 win over UW-Eau Claire at Zorn Arena.
With the victory, UW-Superior not only improved to 5-10 overall and 2-4 in WIAC action, they also halted a five-game losing streak and gave themselves some valuable momentum heading into another tough road contest against UW-Whitewater on Saturday.
The Yellowjackets were aggressive early against UW-Eau Claire (8-8, 1-6), getting two baskets from Bronson Byrne (Chanhassen, Minn./Chaska), a layup from Zach Schradle (Clayton, Wis./Clayton), two free throws from Aaron Corry (Lake Nebagamon, Wis./Northwestern) and a three-point shot from Caleb Burch (Eau Claire, Wis./Altoona) in the opening 4:02 to lead 11-0 with 15:58 left in the first half.
UW-Eau Claire fought their way back into it, getting a score from Jacob Kohner with 5:14 left to trim the deficit to 24-19.
The Yellowjackets came right back however, outscoring the Blugolds 14-9 for the rest of the way to take a 38-29 lead into the intermission thanks to a long jumper by Schradle at the buzzer ending the opening half.
UW-Eau Claire started strong in the second half, getting a key layup from Kurtis Moody and a short jumper from Eric Effertz to slice the deficit to 47-46 with 14:03 remaining in regulation.
The Yellowjackets responded by upping the margin to 58-53 at the 7:20 mark on a layup by Corry before consecutive scores from Kohner, Adam Hjelter and Moody gave the Blugolds their only lead of the game at 59-58 with 4:20 showing on the clock.
UW-Superior came right back, getting a free throw from Jarrod Peterson (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) to even matters 59-59. Corry then connected on a three-pointer to give the Yellowjackets a 62-59 edge with 3:00 remaining in regulation.
Burch then hit his third three-pointer of the game 58 seconds later to give UW-Superior a 65-59 cushion at the 2:02 mark of the second half.
The Blugolds never got closer than four points the rest of the way as Peterson and Schradle combined to make 10 straight free throws in the final 1:10 to close out the victory.
Peterson paced five Yellowjackets in double-figures with a game-high 18 points. Schradle added 16 points while Corry finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Burch and Brian Lindblom (Spooner, Wis./Spooner) each had 10 points for UW-Superior as well.
The Blugolds were paced by Kohner with 14 points. Hjelter had 13 points while Moody finished with 11 points for UW-Eau Claire.
Opening tipoff between the Yellowjackets and Warhawks is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Saturday from Kachel Gym in Whitewater.