Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm’s James Osborne attacks the basket during a Big South Conference boys basketball game on Tuesday night at New Ulm High School.

By Blaine Olson

Junior Student Writer

NEW ULM — A strong second half by New Ulm led the Eagles to a very important 100-70 win over Waseca in a Big South Conference boys basketball game Tuesday night.

New Ulm was led by Colton Benson, who had 32 points, while James Osborne had 28 points and Ayden Jensen added 10 points in the win. Nate Firle had 9 points.

This was an important game for the Eagles because of seeding in the conference. New Ulm lost last time out against Waseca. Riding on a stretch where New Ulm has won five of its last six, the Eagles came out strong and did what they had to do to win this game.

“This was a very important game for our seeding in the section,” Benson said. “We knew that the first time around we didn’t play very well and that we could play with this team if we did what we had to do on both the offensive and defensive end. We know as a team if we play well, we are one of the top teams in the conference.”

Going into the second half, the Eagles were winning by 9 points. A strong start to the second half, however, saw New Ulm grow its lead to as many as 30 before the final buzzer went off.

New Ulm started the game out fast as they got out to a quick 14-6 lead five minutes into the game, Osborne led the team in that stretch with 10 points. Benson hit a 3-pointer 2 feet from the logo that kept the momentum on New Ulm’s side when Waseca cut the lead down to 7. This was as close as the Bluejays got the rest of the game.

Key blocks and shots down the stretch in the first half had New Ulm leading 43-34 at halftime.

New Ulm opened the second half on a 19-9 run. Strong defense helped the Eagles keep a lead on the Bluejays.

“They have two very quick guards that are very hard to stop, we had to go up on ball-screens and sprint back,” Dennis said “We did a very good job tonight on doing these things. We did not do a great job the last time we played them, so we had a lot to improve on.”

This strong defense led to strong offense as the Eagles outscored the Bluejays in the second half 57-36.

New Ulm (13-6, 8-2) will host Belle Plaine on Thursday. While Waseca (12-8, 5-3) will play St. James on Friday.