After posting a 4-3 non-conference record to start the season, the Yellowjacket men's basketball team looked to open up the conference portion of their schedule on a winning note. At the same time the Yellowjackets wanted to break a two-year, four-game losing streak against UW-River Falls Wednesday night. After a back and forth first half, the Yellowjackets were not able to overcome a long offensive lapse and poor defense in the second half, losing 90-79 to the Falcons.
 
It was a shootout in the first half with the teams combining for 81 points and shooting a sizzling 11-of-17 combined from beyond the arc.
 
Falcons guard Joe Deppe got the scoring-spree off with a jumper just 16 seconds into the contest. Superior took its first lead, 15-13, on a three-pointer by Cole Minnich (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park) with 14:30 left in the first half. From there, Superior would hold the lead for over 10 minutes until River Falls took the lead back on a lay-up by Jon Christensen with 3:27 left in the half. The Falcons would enter the locker room up one point, 41-40. Both teams shot over 50% from the field in the first half, 54.2% for Superior and 53.3% for River Falls. Superior's Brian Lindblom (Spooner, Wis./Spooner) led the Yellowjackets with 13 points.
 
The second half was more of same, except the Falcons would extend their one-point halftime lead over the Yellowjackets to as much as 14 points. Superior's offense went through a lull in the second half as they managed to score only nine points over the first seven-and-a-half minutes of the second half. During that time, the Falcons managed to put up 15 points to build a seven-point, 56-49 lead. That lead would stretch to the aforementioned 14 points on another jumper by Christensen, 76-62, with just under four minutes to play. From there, the Falcons coasted to their six straight win over the Yellowjackets, despite a late Superior rally, spurred by Johnquez Brooks (North Las Vegas, Nev./Valley), as he scored 14 points over the final 3:48.
 
The Yellowjackets were led by Brooks, who came off the bench for the second straight game, and scored 24 points while dishing out seven assists. Lindblom finished with 17 points, and both Zach Schradle (Clayton, Wis./Clayton) and Ty Ketz (Clayton, Wis./Clayton) had 13.
 
Christensen led the Falcons with 27 points.
 
The Falcons shot 57.4% from the field for the game while Superior shot 47.2%. The Falcons had 24 assists to only six turnovers. The Yellowjackets made a season-high 13 three-pointers on 24 attempts. Brooks was 5-of-10 from the three-point line.
 
With the loss, the Yellowjackets fall to 0-1 in WIAC play and 4-4 overall. Their next game will be a tough one, as they travel to UW-Stevens-Point on Saturday to take on the Pointers. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.