By Jake McNeill

Marshall Independent Sports Editor

MARSHALL — Despite trying a variety of different defensive looks, the Marshall boys basketball team had no answer for New Ulm’s Colton Benson on Friday night. The New Ulm senior and Mankato State commit had a school-record 46 points in the win as the Eagles took down the Tigers 84-70.

Prior to Benson’s big night, the New Ulm scoring record, boys or girls, was held by Meleah Reinhart with 44 points. Benson shot 15 of 30 from the field and 7 of 14 from beyond the arc on the night.

The game was the second night of a back-to-back for New Ulm after the Eagles lost to No. 5 Mankato East despite Benson and Nate Firle each scoring 19 points in the loss. Still, Benson’s legs looked fresh early.

At one point in the first half, Benson was outscoring Marshall’s entire team by a margin of 24-15. His 32-point outing surpasses his previous season-high of 29 set against St. Peter. He’s yet to score fewer than 19 points in a game this year.

Benson went to the bench briefly to rest but didn’t score for the remainder of the half after returning to the court, allowing Marshall to make a late run to cut into the New Ulm lead. Alex Franson converted some contested layups and Drew Parsons knocked down a corner 3 as the buzzer went off. After trailing by as many as 23 points in the half, Marshall cut the deficit down to 46-31 at the break. Still, New Ulm carried that lead for the remainder of the game.

New Ulm started the game out strong after James Osborne scored on a layup after Mensink deflected a New Ulm pass out of bounds. Jackson Baynard responded right back by rising up over a defender for a corner 3 to put Marshall back on top.

Benson answered with a 3 of his own, but Alex Franson eurostepped into a game-tying layup. Mensink then hit consecutive 3-pointers after another bucket by Jensen to give Marshall an 11-7 lead and the appearance of some momentum.

Yet, that momentum faded fast. Benson hit a 3-pointer and Nathan Firle converted a layup to give New Ulm its lead back. From there, Benson stole the ball to set up a transition layup to ignite a run that would eventually put New Ulm up 18-11. JR Vierstraete ended the run with a layup through heavy contact but Benson proceeded to knock down 3-pointers on consecutive possessions, the latter of which coming after his corner crossover dropped his defender to the ground, to establish New Ulm’s control over the game.

Not to be overshadowed, Jackson Baynard and Alex Franson each had big offensive performances for Marshall. Baynard led the team with 19 points while shooting 50% from the field while Franson added another 18 points on 3-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc. Franson’s four assists in the game were also second only to New Ulm’s Will Fossen’s five and he was the only player other than Benson with multiple 3-pointers.

If his lack of scoring in the final minutes had convinced anyone that he had gone cold, Benson scored 4 of the first 6 points of the second half to increase New Ulm’s lead to 15 points.

Still, Marshall rallied. Franson converted on a pair of contested layups and Braxton Koster knocked down a 3-pointer from the left corner to cut the New Ulm lead down to 8 points, 54-46. New Ulm called a timeout after Osborne knocked down a layup to extend its lead to double figures again and the first points out of the huddle came when Firle blocked a Marshall shot to set up another Benson bucket.

New Ulm held a 40-36 advantage on the glass on the night behind 10 boards from Firle and another nine each from Jensen and Osborne. Marshall’s numbers were less concentrated; Ashton Blomberg led the Tigers with nine rebounds. He was the only Marshall player with more than five rebounds but six other Tigers had at least three boards n the night.

While New Ulm led throughout the second half, Marshall remained within striking distance. Every time it seemed that New Ulm was poised to break the game open, a Tiger would come up with a big play to keep the game competitive. Baynard knocked down a midrange jumper after a JR Vierstraete offensive rebound that cut the deficit to 6 points, 61-55, but Firle and Benson responded with quick points to re-extend the lead to double figures. It was a 3-pointer from Fossen followed by a made free throw from Benson after being fouled on a transition dunk that put New Ulm up again by double figures in a lasting way.

Marshall turned the ball over 17 times in the game to New Ulm’s 12. Much of the turnover differential can be attributed to the play of Osborne, who stole the ball six times in the game. Braeden Myhre led Marshall with three steals while Vierstraete, Franson and Mensink each had another two. Firle also had the only block of the game for either team.

New Ulm continues its pattern of alternating between wins and losses to start the year. The 3-2 Eagles will look to put together consecutive wins when they go on the road to face Redwood Valley on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.

Marshall has now lost two straight after its 3-0 start to the season. The Tigers (3-2) will look to get back on track when they go on the road to face Fairmont on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.