EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – While the game was close early, the UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team was able to pull away from UW-Superior and ended up winning 69-55 at Zorn Arena tonight.

The Blugolds and Yellowjackets kept things close over the first 10 minutes of the opening half. In that span, the lead changed hands three times while it was tied at two other points.

But after a Jordan Petersen (Jr.-Strum, Wis./Eleva-Strum) layup 10 minutes into the first half, the Blugolds took a one-point lead and never looked back. His score started a 7-0 run that gave the Blugolds a six point lead (18-12).

The Yellowjackets still kept the game close, but the Blugolds outscored them 16-11 over the final seven minutes to take a 34-27 lead into halftime.

In the second half, the Blugolds began to pull away and Superior never got closer than five points the rest of the night. Eight minutes into the second half, the Blugolds found themselves up by 10 points and led by as much as 18, maintaining a double-digit lead over the final 12 minutes. After getting up by 18 with less than seven minutes to play, Superior outscored Eau Claire 10-8 the rest of the way as the Blugolds won 69-55.

Leading the way for Eau Claire was Petersen with 14 points while Nick Craggs (Jr.-Kimberly, Wis.) added 13. Craggs completed a double-double by also pulling down a game-high 10 rebounds.

The Yellowjackets had a hard time at the free throw line tonight, hitting just seven shots in 17 attempts (41.2 percent). The Blugolds only had a total of seven attempts from the line, making four of them (57.1 percent).

The Blugolds improve to 13-6 overall and 5-5 in the WIAC while Superior is now 11-8 on the season and 5-5 in conference play.

Saturday, the Blugolds will be at UW-Whitewater as part of a doubleheader with the women. The men's game will tip off about 5 p.m.

-KM-