Staff photo by Ari Selvey New Ulm’s Brady Dennis cruises to the hoop to shoot a layup during a Big South Conference boys basketball game against St. Peter Friday at New Ulm High School.

NEW ULM — New Ulm lived and died by the 3-pointer on Friday, but it couldn’t quite hit enough of them as St. Peter defeated the Eagles 85-67 in a Big South Conference boys basketball game.

New Ulm hit a total of 11 3-pointers in the game, with Levi Hopp leading the group with four 3-pointers made for a total of 14 points. Mitchell Hopp led the team in scoring with 19 points, while Brady Dennis had 8 points.

New Ulm head coach Matt Dennis said he was happy with how his team approached the game offensively, saying the team took a lot of open shots during the game.

“First half I thought we took great shots,” he said. “There’s not one single shot in that first half that I would look at my guys and say, ‘What are we shooting that ball for.’ We had open looks, they just weren’t going in. Our guys are doing what they’re supposed to do. Proud of the energy, proud of the effort.

“First half I thought we shared the ball really really well and we got those open looks. Like we always say, it’s selfish not to take that shot. If that’s your shot, if you’re in rhythm, it’s your job to take that shot. I thought we did a nice job. We were all right on the rim, they were all within inches of going in. We feel pretty good about that.”

However, it wasn’t enough to overcome the St. Peter offense which found a good balance of 3-point shooting and paint presence to score 45 points in the first half and 40 in the second.

“We’re learning, we’re growing,” coach Dennis said. “We’re going to close out better. We’re going to learn to get out on the 3-point shot. We know that they’re a good 3-point shooting team, and they knocked down a lot of shots. We know that. We’re young, and sometimes you have to take those lessons and learn from them. Tonight was one of those nights.”

New Ulm managed to stay in the game until the final two minutes, getting its 3-point shots to fall and forcing turnovers on defense to go on some strong runs, the first of which came after going down 9-0 to start the game to come back and tie it at 14. Mitchell Hopp hit a 3-pointer and a transition layup to tie the game up, then New Ulm’s Owen Castleman hit a corner 3-pointer to take a 17-16 lead.

The lead was short-lived, however, as St. Peter responded with a 3 of its own and never gave the lead up, extending it to 28-20 on a 3-pointer by Owen Potts. The Saints continued to build its advantage to 45-33 by halftime.

A 4-point play by Brady Dennis and a 3-pointer by Levi Hopp after he dropped his defender helped keep the score at 52-40 despite some strong offense by St. Peter, and New Ulm began to chip back into the lead. A corner 3-pointer by Levi Hopp started a 12-4 run by the Eagles that ended in a Mitchell Hopp midrange jumper to cut the lead down to 69-63 with six minutes left in the game.

Despite the strong effort late St. Peter was able to navigate New Ulm’s aggressive defense late to score 8 unanswered, with the reserves coming in with 1:14 to play as the Saints held a 85-65 lead.

New Ulm (1-5, 0-5) plays next in the Bethany Lutheran College Christmas Tournament, starting with a game on Thursday against Maple River at 8 p.m.