“We are going on four games in a row where we are under 20 percent in the first half and right about 50 percent in the second half,” he said.

Friday night that trend continued — and it was needed.

Mitchell Hopp’s 3-point basket with 59 seconds left in the game gave New Ulm a 74-71 lead and his basket with 10 seconds left in the game sealed a 76-73 win over Worthington in a Big South Conference game.

Mitchell Hopp led New Ulm with 22 points. Joey Wise added 17 and Levi Hopp had 10 for the Eagles, who improved to 9-9 overall and 5-6 in conference play.

Photo by Brady Dennis New Ulm’s Lendale Dunmars takes the ball to the hoop during a Big South Conference boys basketball game against Worthington on Friday night at New Ulm High School.

Treyson Meinders led Worthington (3-15, 1-8) with 17 points.

“They came in here and played us really tough,” Poncelet said about the Trojans. “We did not shoot the 3 very well in the first half (4 for 16, 25 percent) and that is trend. We were 2 for 12 in Jordan. We have to change our mindset because tonight it was not working, but we just kept settling [for 3s] and that allowed Worthington to open up a [33-27] halftime lead.”

And it was an unusual first half for the Eagles as they forced 14 Trojans turnovers but trailed by 6 points.

“I loved what we were doing defensively — we were getting our hands in passing lanes — we were making them struggle,” Poncelet said. “The problem was we could not make shots. And when you take those quick 3s off of the one side, they are set up to rebound and we are not set up offensively to rebound and we are playing transition defense and we are going to have breakdowns — transition is where the highest percentage of points are.”

But for the Eagles, history repeated itself with the 3-point shot percentage.

New Ulm made 8 of 13 shots from beyond the arc in the second half as they staged a comeback.

A Tanner Backer 3 gave the Eagles a 42-40 lead before treys from Lendale Dunmars and Joey Wise had New Ulm holding a 59-49 lead.

The Trojans sliced the lead down to 68-66 with just over two minutes left in the game before Mitchell Hopp buried his second 3 of the second half.

Poncelet said that continuing to rely on the second-half success of 3-point shooting is living dangerously.

“It did not work against Belle Plaine or St. Peter or Waseca,” he said. “It worked tonight against Worthington — but not by much. This was a valuable win against a conference and section.”