New Ulm breaks eight-game skid

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- It was a nice way to break an eight-game losing streak.

The New Ulm Eagles placed three players in double figures and forced 21 St. Peter turnovers as New Ulm topped the Saints 71-61 Friday night in South Central Conference boys basketball.

Mikale Gustafson led the Eagles (2-7, 3-15) with 17 points. John Besser added 16 and Jake Babel 15. Gustafson and Besser each added eight rebounds each while Babel hauled down six.

Ben Olsen led St. Peter (0-9, 2-18) with a game-high 19 points.

"I think that our team was kind of looking forward to this game," Eagles coach Pat Burmeister said. The Eagles' last win came at St. Peter on January 16 in a 74-58 win.

"We knew that we had a chance to beat them again -- we have had some tough games in the last eight games," Burmeister said. "But the team came out, played hard and showed the improvement that we have been making."

The Eagles, who host a strong Redwood Valley team Tuesday, trailed only once in the game at 3-2 before a Jake Babel rebound basket sparked a 9-0 run. Joey Geistfeld made a baseline basket, a Gustafson jumper and a 3-pointer from Gustafson gave New Ulm an 11-3 lead.

"We had balanced scoring all night," Burmeister said. "And it is nice to see that. We had guys doing a great job sharing the ball tonight; we made some extra passes and got some good percentage shots."

New Ulm shot 56 percent from the field in the game as they took a 17-11 lead as John Besser put back a rebound to end the first quarter.

Besser hit a jumper to start the second quarter before Gustafson followed with a bucket for a 21-11 lead less than two minutes into the second quarter.

Jake Babel, Matt Sprung and Geistfeld all scored to move that lead to 27-13.

"We were patient on offense, reversed the ball and had good shot selection," Burmeister said. "Some of our losses were due to poor shot selection on our part. Most of the time tonight, we reversed the ball at least one time and some four or five times."

St. Peter cut the lead to 32-25 before Zach Schipper hit a bucket on a rebound to close out the first half with a 34-25 halftime lead for New Ulm.

Babel's six points in the third quarter kept the Eagles' lead at double-digits.

"I thought that Jake had a nice game tonight," Burmeister said. "He is confident in his ability to shoot and when he is within 15 feet, he is a good shooter."

But the Saints would again test the Eagles, cutting their lead to 47-43 to close out the third quarter and then pulling to within 47-45 early in the final quarter.

But a three-point play from Josh Date and two baskets from Gustafson -- both on St.Peter turnovers -- lifted the Eagles to 54-45 lead with six minutes left in the game.

Besser then went to work as he scored the next eight points.

"He did a nice job tonight," Burmeister said. "He took the ball to the basket and some of his teammates made nice passes."

Mike Maki handed out five assists in the quarter.

"We have played him a quarter in our last few games," Burmeister said. "He played really nice tonight -- we will be looking at playing him more in the future."

Besser's two free throws with four minutes left saw the Eagles take a 62-49 lead before two Gustafson charity tosses with just over a minute left gave New Ulm a 67-51 lead.

"We continued to play good half-court defense; we contested their shots on the defensive end," Burmeister said. "It was nice to get a win before the Redwood Valley game."

The New Ulm B-squad lost 47-44. Jonathan Curry led the Eagles with 14 points.

The Eagle "C" team also lost 42-37. Derek Rieke led New Ulm with 11 points.

ST.PETER 11 14 18 18 -- 61

NEW ULM 17 17 13 24 -- 71

ST.PETER (61): Olsen 19, Stuckey 13, Stowell 9, Skrove 7, Nelsen 7, Menk 6.

NEW ULM (71): Gustafson 17, Besser 16, Babel 15, Date 7, Geistfeld 6, Sprung 4, Wendinger 3, Shipper 2, Maki 1.