New Ulm’s James Osborne, 5, takes the ball to court after Jordan’s turnover during the Eagles’ season-opening men’s basketball game against Jordan at New Ulm High School on Saturday afternoon.
NEW ULM — It was the first game of the season for both teams, but Section 2AAA might raise some eyebrows.
New Ulm outscored Jordan 25-3 to start the second half and outscored Jordan 74-53 in a non-conference boys’ basketball game on Saturday afternoon.
Colton Benson led the Eagles with a game-high 29 points. Nate Firle added his 21 points and James Osborne his 9 points. Benson added his 13 rebounds and Firle pulled down his 12 boards. Osborne also stole four bases and was charged by Mason Epper.
Nate Keth gave the Hubmen a 16-point pace.
“We came out of the gate hot and loved what we were able to do.” said new Ulm coach Matt Dennis. “We played hard defense. There was a lot of adrenaline coming out of the gate. This first game is like Christmas for us. We opened that present right away.” “
That was when the Eagles scored the game’s first 11 points, with Benson sinking the first of six 3-pointers in the game and James Osborne turning two Hubmen turnovers into an 11-0 lead. .
But Jordan tried to put a chunk of coal into the Eagles’ present when he cut New Ulm’s 16-4 lead to a 21-19 Hubmen lead and a 29-28 lead at halftime.
“We got a little reality check where the little things have to be done.” Dennis has spoken out about Jordan’s comeback. “That stretch didn’t leave us, but we didn’t do things to lead early on. not.”
And the Eagles did it from halftime.
A 10-point run at the start of the second half to give New Ulm a 38-32 lead was followed by a 15-0 Eagles run that forced Jordan to call two timeouts.
“At halftime we talked about what they were doing on the ball screen and what we needed to do to beat it.” Dennis said. “We wanted to be patient and let the game come to us.”
Benson led 65-45 with six minutes remaining after a 39-39 between Benson and Easton Clarke.
Dennis turned his attention to Jordan’s shot-changing tandem ability while Benson and Farr aggressively wrecked the inside.
“Not many teams have 6-foot-6 or 6-foot-9[junior]guys. I’m sure Nate cared about a lot of their shots and changed them.” Dennis said Jordan only made 3 of 24 shots from the 3-point land. “Then I was able to show quickness on the outside of James and Colin Horning, and I made threes with Easton (Clark), Aiden Jensen, Mason Epper and Will Fossen. open.”
The Eagles went 26-11 from across the arc of the game.
The Eagles are in St. Peter next Friday for the Big South Conference opener.