Photo by Jake McNeill New Ulm guard Levi Hopp (2) shoots a fadeaway during the second half of a Big South Conference boys basketball game against Marshall on Tuesday in Marshall. 

By Jake McNeill

jmcneill@marshallindependent.com

MARSHALL — Levi Hopp made big shots all night long for the New Ulm boys basketball team on Tuesday night in a Big South Conference battle against Marshall. The two teams traded blows all night long, but some timely shots helped the Eagles come away victorious with an 84-74 win.

Trailing by 5 points five minutes into the second half, New Ulm surged ahead after calling a timeout. Levi Hopp knocked down a pull-up jumper and Mitchell Hopp and Noah Mertz got to the cup on consecutive possessions to tie the game up at 54-points apiece.

Andrew Lee jumped into a passing lane to knock away a New Ulm pass, tiptoeing along the sideline to stay in bounds before flipping the ball over his head to Oliver Voigt to put Marshall back on top. Voigt also drove the baseline for a layup on the Tigers’ next possession, but Levi Hopp answered the buckets with a 3 and a mid-range jumper to give the Eagles the lead, and Zach Hubbard followed with a layup to put New Ulm on top 60-57.

Marshall tried to stem the tide by calling a timeout with seven minutes remaining, but it was no use. The Eagles remained on top for the remainder of the game, going up by 13 points with two minutes to play and holding on from there for a 10-point victory.

Levi Hopp finished the game as New Ulm’s leading scorer with 22 points on 8 of 17 shooting while Mitchell Hopp added another 18 points on 7 of 13 shooting. Levi was also the Eagles’ leader in rebounds with seven and assists with three. Owen Castleman also heated up in the second half to finish with 15 points.

Oliver Voigt carried the brunt of the scoring load for Marshall, ending the night with 36 points on 14 of 26 shooting from the field and a pair of 3-pointers. His 10 total and five offensive rebounds were also both game-highs, as were his two blocks.

Holding a 2-point lead early in the game, New Ulm picked up some early momentum with a 11-2 run to build a 27-16 lead with eight-and-a-half minutes left in the half.

Tanner Backer sparked the run with a 3-pointer and Mertz followed up with a pair of free throws to extend the New Ulm lead to 7 points. Joey Wise kept it going with a layup and, after Noah Pieper got Marshall back on the board, a pair of layups from Castleman and Hubbard brought the New Ulm edge to 11 points.

Still, the Tigers weren’t ready to give up yet. Facing a 7-point deficit with three minutes remaining, Voigt knocked down a free throw and a layup and then swatted away a shot on the defensive end to set up a Pieper transition bucket to trim the deficit to 2 points.

Voigt then came up with another big shot defense before hitting a 3 to give Marshall its first lead of the day, 35-34, when New Ulm called a timeout with 90 seconds to play in the half. Still, New Ulm responded with 7 unanswered points before Voigt hit a 3 at the buzzer, sending the Eagles into a locker room with a 41-38 lead despite Voigt’s 17 points.

Levi Maeyaert got off to a hot start in the second half, hitting a tying 3 on the first possession and knocking down another off a feed from Davion Xayarath to give the Tigers the lead. Marshall went on to lead by 5 points before New Ulm regained control of the game.

New Ulm improves to 6-6 on the season with the win and has the opportunity to get above .500 for the first time this season on Friday when it hosts Waseca (7-5) at 7:30 p.m.