The UW-Superior men's basketball team erased a 13-point first-half deficit and held on for a 77-75 victory over Whittier to close its appearance in the 11th-annual D3hoops.com Classic at South Point Arena on Wednesday.

Junior guard Eli Vogel (Appleton, Wis./Appleton West) led three starters in double figures with 20 points, adding three rebounds, two steals and one assist. Sophomore J'Vaun Walker (Rosharon, Texas/Manvel) scored 12 with six steals and five assists and junior Josef Fahrenholtz (Chatfield, Minn./Chatfield) tallied a season-high 11 points with three boards.

The Yellowjackets, who earned their first win in four all-time games in the D3hoops.com Classic, rallied from being down, 23-10, with less than 13 minutes to play in the first half. UWS was even with the Poets at the break at 42-all. After Vogel knocked down a 3-pointer on the 'Jackets' final possession of the half for the lead, Whittier answered with six seconds left for the tie.

UWS (4-8) led by as many as six at 65-59 with seven minutes remaining when sophomore Bora Yilmaz (Istanbul, Turkey/The Knox School (N.Y.)) drained one of his two treys on the day. Three minutes later, Xavier Patterson (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) fouled Ahmad Young beyond the arc, who hit all three from the line to pull his team to within 67-66.

UWS scored the next four as Fahrenholtz converted a layup from Mason Ackley (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) and Walker stripped a Whittier player, going the other way for a quick two and a 71-66 edge with 2:16 remaining.

Whittier's Gonzalo Canido cut the deficit in half with a 3-pointer at 75-72 with 22 seconds left. Following two free throws from Vogel, Young hit another triple with time running down for the final margin.

After shooting over 55 percent in the first half, Superior limited Whittier to just 32 percent in the second on eight made field goals. The Poets turned the ball over 23 times, including 12 in the first half, but were able to stay in the game with a 20-for-22 showing from the charity stripe.

Superior received 34 points in the paint and 28 off of turnovers.

All five Whittier (4-5) starters finished with double-digit points. Young paced the Poets with 23 points and three steals.

Next up, the Yellowjackets return to Upper Midwest Athletic Conference action Jan. 8 at Northland. Game time at Kendrigan Gym is 4:45 p.m.