With just over five minutes left in their contest with UW-LaCrosse Saturday afternoon, the UW-Superior men's basketball team found itself squarely within striking distance of the Eagles.
Trailing just 62-59 with 2:55 remaining, the Yellowjackets had a chance to not only win their second straight game, but also gear up for their final two games of the regular season in the process.
Unfortunately for UW-Superior, the Eagles turned to one of their primary strengths. And that was all it took for UW-LaCrosse to pull out a victory.
The Eagles got consecutive three-point shots from Lucas Collom and Braden Tice during a 48-second span late in the second half to expand their three-point lead to seven and then never looked back down the stretch to hold on for a 72-63 win at Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium.
UW-Superior fell despite outshooting the Eagles by percentage (44.4 percent vs. 42.9 percent) and out-rebounding UW-LaCrosse 37-34 for the game. But 17 Yellowjackets turnovers compared to just seven for the Eagles helped drop UW-Superior to 7-16 overall and 4-10 in WIAC play.
The Eagles meanwhile improved to 15-9 overall and 9-6 in league play with the win.
Matters were tight early on, with neither side able to gain much an advantage through the first five minutes of the opening half.
UW-Superior took an 11-7 lead on a one-handed dunk by Bronson Byrne (Chanhassen, Minn./Chaska) with 13:48 left in the first stanza.
The Eagles came right back, scoring the next six to take a 13-11 edge on a three-pointer by Calahan Skogman before a jumper by Jarrod Peterson (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) evened matters at 13-13 at the 11:39 mark of the half.
UW-Superior went on an 8-2 run from there, getting four points from Peterson and two free throws from Zach Schradle (Clayton, Wis./Clayton) to take a 21-15 lead with 9:10 remaining on the clock.
The Eagles again rallied, retaking the lead at 24-23 on a score by Skogman before scoring nine of the half's final 12 points for a 39-32 cushion on Braden Tice's jumper with 41 seconds left in the frame.
UW-Superior came out hard to start the second half, getting an inside score from Byrne and two free throws from Harrison Woods (Mobile, Ala./C.F. Vigor) to come within 43-38 with 17:28 left in regulation.
The Eagles again responded however, upping the margin to 51-41 on a jumper by Connor De Bruin before another basket by Skogman gave UW-LaCrosse their largest lead of the game at 56-43 with 11:41 remaining.
UW-Superior steadily cut into the deficit, trimming the Eagles lead to 62-59 on Peterson's layup at the 2:55 mark of the second half.
But consecutive three's by Collom and Tice made it a 68-61 UW-LaCrosse advantage with just 1:17 left in the contest.
The Yellowjackets never got closer than five points the rest of the way as UW-LaCrosse got four straight free throws from Jared Staege and Tice in the final 41 seconds to salt the game away.
UW-Superior was led by Peterson's game-high 22 points. Byrne meanwhile finished with 14 points for the Yellowjackets.
Luke Tweed paced the Eagles with 15 points. Skogman finished with 14 points while Collom pitched in with 13.
The Yellowjackets host UW-River Falls on Wednesday. Opening tipoff from Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium is scheduled for 7 p.m.