River Falls came to Mertz Mortorelli Gym in Superior on Wednesday night, opening what should be an exciting and ultra-competitive the 2010-11 conference season.  The Falcons, who received votes in the most recent D3hoops.com poll, appeared to have an early philosophy to make anyone other than Jake Smith (Rhinelander, Wis.) beat them.  It worked, but it wasn't easy.  At one point, Smith accounted for over half of the Yellowjacket scoring, but the Falcons were still able to escape with a 62-58 win.

The Yellowjackets started out cold, eventually falling behind midway through the first half by nine points, trailing 12-3, the only points coming on a three-pointer by Smith.  They would eventually begin to heat up, and pulled to within three, trailing 29-26 at halftime.  Smith scored 14 first-half points, including going 4-5 from three-point range.  Aside from Smith, nobody in the first half scored more than three points, as the 'Jackets shot 40% from the field.

In the second half, the 'Jackets came out shooting right away and took their first lead of the game just over a minute into the half on a layup by Dan Culy (Rice Lake, Wis.).  From that point forward, the game was a seesaw battle, one where each team held the lead, but nobody could open up a lead of more than seven points.  The Yellowjackets closed out their scoring, and took a one-point lead with 3:20 to play on another Culy layup.  From there the Falcons closed the door, forcing the Yellowjackets to foul, and going 5-6 from the line in the final two minutes.  Culy and Marcus Helland (Baldwin, Wis.) were instrumental in the 'Jackets climbing back into the game in the second half, scoring ten points apiece.  Culy and Helland along with Smith were the only Yellowjackets to score in double figures.

Helland was a monster on the glass, pulling down a team-leading 13 rebounds and also leading the team in steals with three.  Smith dished out a team-best three assists and led the team with a pair of blocks.

For the game, the Yellowjackets shot 43.4% (23-53) from the field, including 10-24 (41.7%) from three-point range, while River Falls shot 43.1% from the floor.  The Yellowjackets also held an advantage in rebounds, outrebounding the Falcons 34-29.

The Yellowjackets (4-2, 0-1 WIAC) hit the road on Saturday, December 4, when they will take on the Pioneers at UW-Platteville.  Tip-off on Saturday is 1:00 p.m.  The next home game will be on Saturday, December 11, when they host UW-Whitewater.