The UWS Men’s Basketball team opened regular season play Wednesday in Ashland, where they took on the Northland College Lumberjacks.

There was an entirely different look out on the court, since the Yellowjackets lost four starters from last year. But, with their departures comes new talent and fresh young blood.

The starters for the Yellowjackets were Seniors Ben Aalfs (guard, 6 feet 3 inches) and Dustin Ritchie (guard, 5 feet 11 inches), Juniors Brendan Bauer (forward, 6 feet 4 inches) and Trent Davis (guard, 6 feet), and Sophomore Bronson Byrne (center, 7 feet).

The starters for the Lumberjacks were Senior Michael Mackey (guard, 6 feet 2 inches), Juniors Adrian Flores (forward, 6 feet 5 inches) and Eric Krall (forward, 6 feet 6 inches), and Freshmen Nathan Sharp (guard, 5 feet 11 inches) and RJ Dean (guard, 6 feet).

The Lumberjacks and Yellowjackets together, put a combined three seniors on the floor. The youthfulness and inexperience of both teams was shown throughout the night as players made dangerous passes, caused huge turnovers, in addition to making fast-paced high intensity plays.

The Yellowjackets tipped things off and, got out to a hot start and a quick lead, which dwindled soon after. The pace of the first half was very up-tempo, with both teams running and gunning back and forth.

The Yellowjackets found themselves down 36-43 at halftime, a deficit which was as high as 13 at one point. The Yellowjackets got into early foul trouble which caused them to bring players off the bench early and often throughout the rest of the game. The seniors, Aalfs and Ritchie, each had 10 points at intermission.

The Yellowjackets came out firing to start the second half and were able to cut the lead down. They dished it to the big man Byrne, who scored 6 of the first 10 points, as he pounded in a few baskets from the post.

The game was back and forth all the way to the end as both the Lumberjacks and Yellowjackets banged and battled for baskets. The teams would combine for 49 fouls on the night.

With about seven minutes left, the Yellowjackets regained the lead they had missed since the opening moments of the game.

From there on out, the game was as tight-knit as could be. Every possession was monumental for both teams. Aalfs and freshman Adam Hjelter would both hit two long-range shots that would be key to escaping with a victory. The Lumberjacks would have some last second heroics, but it would not be enough as the Yellowjackets prevailed with the 74-72 win.

UW-Superior attempted 39 free throws, while Northland attempted 36, in a game that turned into a hack fest. The Yellowjackets only made a dismal 59 percent, whereas the Lumberjacks made 75 percent. Another thing that hurt the Yellowjackets was their inability to shoot the 3-pointers. They made five out of 19 attempts, which is good for a depressing 26.3 percent.

Northland was led in scoring by Flores, who put down 16 points. The Yellowjackets were led by Aalfs, who put away 24 points, to go with his 10 rebounds and four assists. Byrne and Hjelter also put away 12 apiece, as Ritchie chipped in 11.

The Yellowjacket Men’s Basketball team is in action again at 8 p.m. Friday, as they take on Finlandia University at Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium in Superior for the opening night of the Merrill Thompson Tip-Off Classic.