A three-pronged attack proved to be too much for Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial Friday night as New Ulm prevailed in the championship game of the Kwik Trip Holiday Tournament at Bethany Lutheran.
The Eagles relied on the outside shooting of Colton Benson, the 6-foot-9 inside presence of Nathan Firle and the effective penetration of James Osborne to roll to an 87-67 win. It marked the first time the Eagles have won the BLC holiday tournament.
“That’s our game, that’s New Ulm basketball,” Benson said of the three-headed attack. “When we’re playing together and things are clicking we can do some good things.”
Benson, who has signed to play basketball at Minnesota State Mankato next season, finished with a game-high 33 points. Osborne had 22 and Firle ended up with 16.
The Eagles began to pull away midway through the opening half with a couple of scoring bursts. With LCWM leading 10-8, New Ulm scored 12 straight. A free throw by Firle and a steal and coast-to-coast layup by Osborne started the surge. A 3-point play by Firle and two straight long-range 3-point bombs from Benson gave the Eagles a 20-10 lead with 13:09 left in the half.
LCWM rallied to close the gap to 22-18 before New Ulm again got hot and went on a 10-2 run. Benson scored six points during the rally while Firle added four.
New Ulm’s Ayden Jensen had the shot of the game, tracking down a rebound near the left sideline in the final second of the first half and lofting it back over his shoulder for a 2-point swisher. The no-look shot gave the Eagles a 49-33 lead at halftime.
A tight defensive effort on the part of New Ulm inside prevented the Knights from getting much penetration and limited their scoring opportunities.
The Eagles gradually built on their lead in the second frame. The largest advantage came with 10:12 to play when they went up 79-50. Osborne had a big second half where he scored 15 of his 22 points.
“That’s his strength,” New Ulm head coach Matt Dennis said of Osborne’s ability to drive the lane and score. “Most of it is on him. He sees an opening and he takes it.”
Jack Brockmann led the Knights with 14 points, mostly from the perimeter. Ethan Anderson, Ethan Wiens and Jack Goeringer scored 10 points apiece.
Friday night marked the third straight season LCWM has reached the championship game of the tournament. The Knights won it in 2021 and have finished second the last two seasons.
Other games
Minnesota Valley Lutheran 63, Maple River 61: Ben Pearson led the Chargers with 29 points as they won the third-place game.
Pearson set a new tournament record with 94 points in the three-game event. Former MVL players Dunwa Omot (2019) and Jake Kettner (2017) shared the record previously at 91 points.
Kyler Flunker scored 12 points in the Chargers’ win.
For Maple River, Wyatt Birr led the way with 17 points, and Aaron Pawlitschek had 14 points.
St. Clair 64, Mankato Loyola 46: Connor Whittet scored 21 points for the Cyclones in their victory in the fifth-place game.
Austin Ward added 14 points for St. Clair.
Skylar Hill-Koenen added 11 points for Loyola.
Fairmont 66, New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva 33: Levi Pooley finished with 16 points for the Cardinals in their victory in the seventh-place game.
Will Tuttle led NRHEG with 13 points.