Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm’s Will Fossen shoots a 3 during a Section 2AAA boys basketball playoff game against St. Peter on Wednesday night at New Ulm High School.

NEW ULM — In the first half of the New Ulm Eagles’ Section 2AAA playoff game Wednesday night against St. Peter, Will Fossen buried three 3s to give New Ulm a 21-15 lead eight minutes into the game.

Fossen did not make another 3 until there were under two minutes to go in the game.

But it may have been the biggest of the 6-foot-2 senior’s career.

Fossen’s 3 with 1:28 left in the game gave New Ulm a 77-73 lead as the Eagles came away with an 86-78 win over the Saints.

Colton Benson led New Ulm with 30 points. James Osborne added 19, while Fossen had 16 and Nate Firle had 12.

Kaeden Guida led St. Peter with 23 points as the Saints end their season at 13-14.

The third-seeded Eagles, now 20-7, will meet second-seeded Mankato West (20-7) Saturday at 7:45 p.m. at Gustavus Adolphus.

Mankato West defeated Marshall 88-54 Wednesday.

“St. Peter played hard,” New Ulm head coach Matt Dennis said. “They played extremely well tonight — they gave us their ace. We knew they weren’t going to down without a fight and this was a classic rivalry game section game. It was a tough matchup.”

The Eagles, who saw a 17-point halftime lead and a 57-39 lead with 13 minutes left in the game, saw the Saints slowly climb back into the game and eventually take their first and only lead of the game at 73-72 on a 3 from Tate Olson with 2:54 left in the game.

“They found soft spots where we were not being tough defensively,” Dennis said. “They attacked them — they came in with a game plan. They scouted us very well. It was going to be exchanging punches.”

Two free throws from James Osborne regained a little momentum for the Eagles before Fossen followed with a 3 that found the bottom of the net for a 77-73 lead.

It was a shot that Fossen had told Benson about before he took it.

“I told Colton before the play was called out that I was going to shoot it,” Fossen said. “Luckily it went in — I am pretty confident in my 3-point shot.”

Dennis said that’s who Fossen is.

“That kid is so clutch,” Dennis said. “But that is who he is — he does not care about presssure. He just steps up and does his thing.”

Two free throws from Benson and two more from Nate Firle had New Ulm up 81-73 with 45 seconds left in the game.

“You always want to beat your rival team.” Fossen said. “So it was nice getting the win at home.”