NEW ULM — The New Ulm Eagles boys basketball team gave the unbeaten and the fifth-ranked team in Class AAA all they wanted Saturday afternoon in a non-conference game.

But in the end, an 11-3 run by the Willmar was the difference as the Cardinals came away with an 83-75 win.

Avery Christensen led Willmar (10-0) with 22 points.

Mitchell Hopp led New Ulm (5-6) with a game-high 25 points. Levi Hopp ended with 15 and Zach Hubbard with 11.

“This was a hard fought game bewteen two pretty equal teams,” New Ulm head coach Michael Poncelet said. “They are ranked in the state — they are a rock-solid team — but we played with them, but we made one to many mistakes and the score is not indicative of how close that game was, and if at any point we have one better possession they are fouling us and we are up 8.”

The Eagles, who play at Marshall on Tuesday, trailed 71-67 on two free throws from Jackson Carlson with just under four minutes to go.

Two free throws from Owen Castleman and a 3 from Mitchell Hopp had the Eagles holding a 72-71 lead with just over two minutes left in the game.

But Willmar outscored the Eagles 11-3 down the stretch to hold on for the win.

The Eagles came out of the gates and took an 18-8 lead. A 3-ball from Levi Hopp followed by a Levi Hopp basket off of a Cardinals turnover made it 14-8 before two baskets from Noah Mertz had the Eagles holding that 10-point lead.

Willmar closed the gap to 34-30 late in the first half before baskets from Joey Wise and Hubbard with 3 from Mitchell Hopp had New Ulm leading 40-30 at halftime.

“I saw on film that they a zone defense disrupts them quite a bit,” Poncelet said. “And maybe we should have stuck with the zone more in the second half.”

The Eagles kept the lead until Willmar took their first lead of the game at 53-51 on a Jacob Ellingson basket at the 11:37 mark of the second half.

Two 3’s from Tanner Backer and 3s from Mitchell Hopp and Hubbard had the Eagles down 68-63 with four minutes left in the game.

Despite the loss, Poncelet said that his team is taking positive steps forward each game.

“Absolutely we are making progress,” he said.