Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm’s Zach Hubbard puts up a shot in the paint while guarded by Hutchinson’s Brady Larson on Saturday afternoon in a nonconference boys basketball game at New Ulm High School.

NEW ULM — Saturday afternoon’s nonconference game against the Hutchinson Tigers was just what the New Ulm Eagles boys basketball team needed to get some confidence back.

And while it was a slow burn to a comfortable lead, the Eagles hit their stride in the second half on the way to a 67-58 win at New Ulm High School.

Zach Hubbard led the Eagles (3-11) with 15 points, while Mitchell Hopp had 14 points and Brady Dennis had 13. Levi Hopp chipped in 8.

Hutchinson (5-8) was led by Landon Teetzel’s 13 points, while Brady Larson added 12 and Matthew Ortloff had 10.

After dropping four games in a row entering Saturday’s game, the Eagles stopped their skid with a combination of solid defense and up-tempo offense.

“It was big,” Hubbard said of the win. “We were not doing well. We just came off two big losses, so we needed a win and this was a fun one, too. We were passing, getting assists, playing good D, too.”

The first half was a back-and-forth exchange between the two teams, with New Ulm pressing early on. The Eagles press did lead to a few Hutchinson turnovers but not enough to widen any lead they had. After Dennis and Hutchinson’s Luke Radke exchanged 3s, Levi Hopp buried a 3 to put New Ulm up 9-7. Hutchinson never led by more than 2 in the half and after taking a 19-17 lead on a steal for a layup by Teetzel, New Ulm cleaned things up, tying it on a pair of Hubbard free throws before Mitchell Hopp scored on a layup and added a corner 3 for a 24-19 lead. New Ulm turned that scoring burst into an 11-0 run total after an Owen Castleman layup and free throws from Nick Risen made it 28-19 New Ulm in the final two minutes of the half. The Eagles took a 31-23 lead into the half.

After wearing down the Tigers near the end of the first half, the Eagles continued their momentum in the second half and started to get their fast break going also.

First, Risen found Hubbard on the hoop for a fast-break bucket before a layup from Castleman gave New Ulm a 43-27 lead and forced a Hutchinson timeout with 13:34 to play. Mitchell Hopp picked up his fourth foul of the game with 10:22 left, bringing Lendale Dunmars to the floor as a substitution. New Ulm didn’t stop its aggressive attack after that, with Dennis layup, a Risen putback and a steal for a layup by Joey Wise giving the Eagles their largest lead of the game at 53-33.

“We knew that they didn’t have many bench players that could come in, so they pretty much just played the five [starters],” Dennis said. “So we knew to speed them up, get them tired and it would be easier for us.”

Hutchinson hung around and cut its deficit to 11 with less than three minutes to go. The Tigers then cut their deficit to 67-58 after a steal for a layup by Teetzel in the closing seconds, but the Eagles did enough damage earlier to hang on for the much-needed win.

“We were just focusing on defense and we were trying to speed them up on offense, too,” Hubbard said. “I feel like we thought at the start we were going to do pretty good, speed them up, press, make them play hard because they only have the starting five that they play.”

That defense, in addition to sharing the ball on offense went a long way in the Eagles’ win.

“I really think the team worked together today to get the win,” Dennis said. “We had a lot of ball movement.”

The Eagles will need every bit of that defensive effort and fluid offense Tuesday night as they travel to take on undefeated Waseca, 15-0 and ranked second in Class AA, in a 7:30 p.m. Big South Conference game.