The University of Wisconsin-Superior men’s basketball season ended Thursday night in the conference semi-finals at the hands of UW-Whitewater, the #1 seed in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament.  UWS lost the game after beating UW-LaCrosse 83-77 on Tuesday night in the quarterfinals.

The ‘Jackets got off to a fast start against Whitewater, scoring the game’s first eight points.  UWW struck back with a run of its own, making the score 8-7.  The rest of the first half stayed close, and UWS took a 36-35 lead into halftime.

The beginning of the second half started with a basket by each team, but Whitewater then took a 39-38 lead with 17:54 left, and wouldn’t let it go.  They went on a 19-8 run in the next five minutes, and took a 58-46 lead.  UWS wasn’t be able to get back to within nine points the rest of the game, and ended up falling to the Warhawks 86-70.  UWW had very strong shooting in the second half, making 19-30 shots (63.3%).  They also dominated the glass, out rebounding the ‘Jackets 42-24.

UWS was lead by junior Jake Smith, who shot 8-13 from the floor with 21 points, and added eight rebounds.  Junior Dan Culy added 13 points while senior Dwight Hill scored 11 in his final game as a Yellowjacket.

Hill ends his career with 1,326 points and leaves as the UWS all-time leader in assists with 372.  It is safe to say that Hill leaves as one of the best basketball players UWS has ever seen.

UWS brings back a strong set of players next season, with juniors Jake Smith and Dan Culy, who both topped 1,000 points this year, Greg Roeder, Marcus Helland, and sophomore Ben Aalfs.  They will hope to build on this season’s success and make another run in the WIAC next season