After struggling through the St. James Tournament’s first two rounds, the Union Wildcats picked up a victory Friday.
Union (3-10) defeated Newburg, 47-42, to capture seventh place in the event.
“Yes it’s great to get one,” Union Head Coach Chris Simmons said. “We have been playing better but have not been able to finish things out in games. Both our guards and our bigs really crashed the glass hard which was a big reason for the win. It was not a pretty game by any means but it was great to come out on top. It is really important that our kids continue to build on this. In our last four games, we have played good teams and played three of them tough. It is now just a matter of turning the corner and finishing those games off. We have to learn how to win.”
The Wildcats were led by two players who reached double digits in scoring.
Brandon Ford was the top scorer with 17 points and he made it a double-double with 15 rebounds. Of those, 11 came on the defensive side. He added five blocked shots and one assist.
Nick Ziegler scored 16 points and added seven rebounds and two assists.
From there, the Wildcats had five different players contribute a total of 14 points.
TJ Vitt scored five points with four rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Brian Borgmann closed with three points, seven rebounds, two blocked shots and an assist.
Blake Hulsey netted three points with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Ashton Dehn scored two points with four rebounds and one assist.
Kory Lucas closed with one point, two rebounds and two steals.
Dylan Small also played.
Newburg led 7-6 after the first quarter, but Union rallied in the second to take a 19-13 lead to the intermission.
Union led 34-24 after three quarters.
The Wildcats play in the Union Tournament this week.
