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February 6, 2000
Eagles hold off St. JamesBy PAUL DUNLAP Journal Sports Editor NEW ULM -- In a tight game, free throws can make the difference. The Eagles proved that Friday night. Matt Schmidt's two free throws with :06 left on the clock helped the New Ulm boys basketball team hold off St. James 52-49 in South Central Conference action at NUHS gym. The game was tied 49-49 until Evan Jacobs' free throw with 17 seconds left. "The kids pulled it off down the stretch," Eagle head coach Pat Burmeister said. "Give St. James credit -- they made it a close ballgame, but Evan and Matt hit some big free throws and we made the defensive stops when we needed to." It didn't look as though it would be that close early. A Heath Runge 3-pointer knotted the game at 8-8, but the Saints wouldn't score again until five minutes remained in the second quarter. The Eagles, meanwhile, turned it on. A Brent Farasyn turnaround started the string, which reached 13-0 on a Schmidt trey and 15-0 on a Jeremy Fluegge fast-break bucket before Brett Olson's 3-pointer stopped it and cut the New Ulm lead to 12. The Saints scored 11 of the final 18 points in the half to pull within 30-22 at the break. "The kids came out and played a great first half," Burmeister said of his squad, which shot 64 percent in the opening 16 minutes. "We executed well on offense, did a nice job of pushing the ball in transition, plus we had some good shots and knocked them down. "Defensively we put some pressure on them, did a good job rotating in our 2-3 (zone) and didn't give them many good looks. Our rebounding was good as well." The Saints would heat up from the outside in the second half, though. Runge and Adam Walker both drained a pair of 3-pointers to pull within a pair at 39-37, but the Eagles responded with a 7-0 run of their own before Runge's buzzer-beater trey made the score 46-40 after three. "You have to give St. James credit in that second half," Burmeister said. "They play four guards, and they can all shoot the ball. Maybe it wasn't the best strategy to play 2-3 (zone) on them but that's what we've been doing best, and we just stuck with what we've done best." New Ulm would win the game without a field goal in the final quarter. One free throw apiece from Paul Scheman, Farasyn, and Fluegge kept the lead at 49-44, but Dan Kern hit five straight, including the Saints' ninth 3-pointer of the game, to knot the game and set up those final free throws. Schmidt scored a game-high 17 points to lead New Ulm, with Farasyn adding 14 points. Kern's 12 points led St. James. "The kids are playing real well right now," Burmeister said. "The last two weeks we've really come together and gotten healthy. That's made a difference, and the kids have been working hard in practice. We're just getting better." The Eagles (6-9, 5-3) travel to face Blue Earth Area Tuesday in another SCC matchup. "They beat us in overtime up here (at NUHS)," Burmeister said of the Bucs. "Hopefully we can return the favor." The New Ulm B-squad fell 50-34 to the Saints. Eric Austvold scored 10 points to lead the Eagles (2-11). ST. JAMES 8 14 18 9--49 NEW ULM 16 14 16 6--52 ST. JAMES (49): Kern 12, Runge 11, Walker 10, Dorn 8, Olson 6, Schmillen 2. NEW ULM (52): Schmidt 17, Farasyn 14, Fluegge 9, Jacobs 7, Scheman 3, Larson 2.
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