Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm's Aiden Jensen (1) makes a layup in the second half of the Eagles' Section 2AAA boys basketball title game against Mankato East on Thursday at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.
ST. PETER — Top-seeded Mankato West overcame an early scare by third-seeded New Ulm to defeat the Eagles 38-21 in the second half in the Section 2 AAA men's basketball title game Thursday night. The score was 67 points. Won -47 at Gustavus Adolphus College.
The win clinched the Cougars (26-2) their third consecutive state tournament appearance.
The Cougars had four players score in double figures, led by Dwayne Bryant with 19 points. Carson Schweim added 15 points, Amani Nobles 12 points and Lukas Gustafsson 11 points.
Colton Benson led the Eagles (21-8) with 28 points, and Will Fossen added eight points.
The Cougars defeated New Ulm in the 2022 sectional final and then defeated Worthington in 2023 to advance to state.
Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm's Colton Benson, 24, takes on Mankato East's Carson Schweim, 14, during the Section 2AAA men's basketball title game Thursday at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter. Take a shot while being guarded. Benson and Schwim will both play for the Minnesota State Mavericks next winter.
But the Eagles are looking to bounce back in 2022, and after a strong start in Thursday's game, they looked in good position to get it.
Benson made three straight threes early to give New Ulm a 14-9 lead, but was fouled trying to throw three more. He sank 2 of 3 free throws to give New Ulm a 16-9 lead.
But East went on a 9-0 run late in the second half to take a 26-23 lead. Benson hit an and-one to tie the score at 26-all, but the Cougars took a 29-26 lead into the half with a corner three from Gustafsson.
“Every time we had possession of the ball, we wanted to make sure we took good shots.” Eagles head coach Matt Dennis said. “We were tough in the first half, we beat some big players, a lot of excitement and a packed crowd worked in our favor. I'm very proud of our city for coming to our city and cheering us on.” It was New Ulm at full strength in the stands tonight. I think we worked well together and I'm proud of our guys.”
The Cougars took a 35-28 lead early in the second half, but Jensen drove inside and hit Fossen on the wing for a corner 3, giving New Ulm a 35-31 victory. Benson was then fouled again from beyond the arc and this time made all three free throws to make it a one-score game at 35-34.
Bryant, who at 5 feet 10 inches is one of the shortest players on the court, made several big shots for the Cougars in the second half, including a fast-break bucket that put his team up 44-34. became. The Eagles cut the deficit to 44-40, but were close as the Cougars extended their lead to double digits again.
Two 3-pointers from Bryant and Gustafsson gave the Cougars a 62-43 lead with less than five minutes left. Then a Gustafsson 3 gave the Cougars their biggest lead of the night, 65-43.
For a pair of high scoring teams, New Ulm and East had difficulty scoring against each other. The Eagles had their lowest points of the season on Thursday, but the East's lowest points of the season came in a 59-58 regular season loss to Mankato West on Feb. 20.
Heading into Thursday's game, New Ulm led the section in scoring with 83.6 points per game, while East was a close second with 80.8 points per game.
“We were going to win and we were going to win ugly.” Dennis said. “Just play defense and play hard. We were going to take them out of their offensive set, and they were going to take us out of their offensive set. So just like these teams. I think their offense is good, but I also think their defense can step up and play a lot of physical defense at the same time, and I think you saw that tonight on both sides.”
Although the season didn't end the way he had hoped, the Eagles were able to represent New Ulm in their second section title game in three years, something Dennis was very proud of.
“I'm so proud of our boys.” Dennis said. “These guys, especially the seniors we have here, have meant a lot to New Ulm basketball. I know how close the game was, but I don't really have any other issues at this point. But I… I'm so proud of our players from 1st to 12th grade, especially our seniors. They've been to this game 2 out of 3 times, when New Ulm hasn't been to this game in decades. did.”
