The Blue Earth Area Bucs extended their win streak to five games with a 66-52 win over the New Ulm Eagles in boys basketball action Thursday night in Blue Earth.

Four Buc players reached double figures in scoring. The Bucs grabbed the lead early in the game and controlled play to notch their third conference win against two losses.

Following a Jan. 6 loss – their fifth in row that left their record at 2-5 – the Bucs have seen marked improvement on both ends of the court. During the five game skid they averaged 49.6 points on offense while giving up an average of 61.8 points. The last five games have seen their offensive output improve by over 16 points per game to 65.8. Meanwhile, their defense has gotten more stingy, allowing only 52.6 points per game.

“We are getting more production from everybody,” said Bucs mentor Gary Holmseth. “Our defense is slowly getting better, and our offense is steadily getting better. Our passing has improved a lot.”

Tied at six, a jump hook by Garrett Anderson gave the Bucs the lead for good. Anderson then found Dalton Hurn open for two before Anderson would score off of an inbounds play as the Bucs took a 12- 6 lead.

The Bucs would lead by as many as nine points in the opening half but the Eagles would bounce back and narrow the gap to five points going into half time.

Second half action started out similar to the first half. The Eagles were able to keep the game close.

A 3-pointer by the Eagles’ Justin Brethorst brought the visitors within five points before the Bucs erupted for three quick baskets to open up an 11 point lead.

Nick Lee started things with a baseline jumper from 16 feet. Lee then converted an offensive rebound off a missed layup for two more. Nate Carr stole the ball near the Eagles’ free-throw line and took it all the way in for a layup. That resulted in a quick timeout called by the Eagles’ bench.

Following the timeout, the Eagles hit a bucket to get the lead down to nine, but it would get no closer as the Bucs would extend the margin to as many as 16 points before settling for the 14 point win.

The Bucs made 27 of 44 field goal attempts including two 3-pointers. Leading the way was Lee with 17 points, Carr with 16, Riley Holmseth with 11 and Garrett Anderson who finished with 10.

Rebounds came out in the Bucs favor as they held a 25-19 edge over the Eagles.