For much of the first half of their game against UW-Whitewater Saturday afternoon, the UW-Superior men's basketball team appeared ready to hand the Warhawks their third conference loss of the young season.

But the Yellowjackets watched an early 10-point lead gradually slip away before a 15-0 Warhawks run late in the first half and early in the second half allowed UW-Whitewater to take the lead and never look back in a 77-71 win over UW-Superior at Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium.

With the loss, the Yellowjackets fall to 6-3 overall and 1-2 in WIAC conference action while UW-Whitewater improves to 4-3 and 2-2 league action.

Following a tight opening 13 minutes during which neither side could grab a noticeable advantage, the Yellowjackets managed to take a seven-point lead at 32-25 with 5:33 remaining in the half following a short jumper from senior Jake Smith (Rhinelander, Wis.).

UW-Superior continued to push the action from there, getting back-to-back three's from Dustin Richie (Superior, Wis.) at 3:22 and Smith at 2:57 in taking their largest lead at 38-28 on the way to holding a 44-38 advantage at the half.

But the Warhawks would score the first 15 points of the second half, getting five points each from Chris Davis and Alex Edmunds along with a three-pointer from Antone Byrd and a jumper from D.J. Dantzler to take a 53-44 lead on Edmunds' three with 10:05 remaining in regulation.

The Yellowjackets responded over the next several minutes going on an 11-4 run of their own behind five points from Smith, a layup from senior Greg Roeder (Mercer, Wis.) and driving scores from senior Marcus Helland (Baldwin, Wis.) and sophomore Brendan Bauer (Gilmantown, Wis.) to cut the deficit to 57-55 with 9:10 left on the clock.

UW-Whitewater would manage to hold on in the final 10 minutes however, getting seven points from Davis and getting four key free throws from Dantzler and Edmunds to seal the victory.

For the game, the Yellowjackets shot 45.8 percent (27-of-59) from the floor, including connecting on 10-of-22 from behind the arc.  The Warhawks meanwhile shot 57.7 percent (30-of-52) and 55.6 percent from long range (10-of-18).

Smith led the way for the Yellowjackets, scoring 18 points while Dan Culy (Rice Lake, Wis.) finished with 17 and Ritchie 10.  UW-Whitewater was paced by Davis' game-high 21 points while Edmunds added 18, Byrd 16 and Dantzler 14.