Once a team gets on a roll in the sport of college basketball, it can prove difficult to stop. And the Northwestern Eagles were on a roll against the UW-Superior men's basketball team Tuesday evening.
After trailing by one at the half, the Eagles shot 57.1 percent (16-of-28) from the field in the second half, including going 5-of-9 from three-point range to pull away for a 79-67 win over the Yellowjackets in their non-conference matchup at Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium.
The loss dropped the Yellowjackets to 3-5 on the season while Northwestern improved to 3-4 and halted a three-game losing streak with the win.
UW-Superior got off to a good start in the opening half, jumping out to a 7-3 lead after just 4:20 of the first half behind five points from Jarrod Peterson (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) and a basket by Zach Schradle (Clayton, Wis.).
A Peterson three-pointer with 13:19 left in the first half gave the Yellowjackets a three-point cushion at 15-12.
Northwestern came right back however, getting consecutive three-point shots from Blake Van Maanen and Michael Carney to take an 18-15 at the 9:19 mark of the opening half.
The two teams traded leads over the final 5:09 of the frame before a Bronson Byrne (Chanhassen, Minn./Chaska) layup in the final 12 seconds gave UW-Superior a 31-30 lead at the break.
An early layup from Brian Lindblom (Spooner, Wis./Spooner) expanded the Yellowjackets lead to 33-30 with 19:30 left in regulation before four points from Steven Willey and a layup from Van Maanen allowed the Eagles retake the lead at 36-33 at the 16:57 mark.
From there, the Eagles steadily built their lead, taking their first double-digit lead at 55-44 with 8:45 remaining before a layup by Kyle Ooms made it a 71-55 Northwestern lead with just 2:21 showing on the clock.
The Yellowjackets never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way as the Eagles finished a perfect 13-for-13 from the free throw line for the game.
Peterson led UW-Superior with 24 points while Schradle added 12 points. Aaron Corry (Lake Nebagamon, Wis./Northwestern) had a game-high 10 rebounds for the Yellowjackets as well.
Northwestern was paced by Willey with 20 points. Carney finished with 19 points while Van Maanen had 13 points and Ooms 10 more for the Eagles.
The Yellowjackets host Buena Vista on Saturday. Opening tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. from Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium. The game can be heard locally on 91.3 FM KUWS with Matt Johnson on the call.