Elmhurst led from start to finish, never trailing UW-Superior in the contest. Chris Ihlenfeldt's 3-pointer 10 seconds into the contest staked Elmhurst to a quick lead. The Bluejays pushed their lead to as many as nine points (28-19) with 3:40 to play. UW-Superior managed to trim the lead down to seven at 33-26 at the half.
Elmhurst jumped out quickly in the second half, opening up a 10-1 run in the first 3:30. UW-Superior trimmed the Bluejays' lead down to 12 points (46-34) with 14 minutes to play, but Elmhurst slowly pulled away, pushing their lead to 25 points with seven minutes remaining and leading by as many as 31 points with under five minutes to play.
Elmhurst finished the contest shooting 45.2 percent from the floor (28-of-62), including 37.5 percent from 3-point range (6-of-16). UW-Superior shot just 31.5 percent from the floor (17-of-54) and only 13.3 percent (2-of-15) from beyond the arc.
The Bluejays protected the ball, committing just six turnovers to UW-Superior's 17. The Bluejays cashed in the 17 UW-Superior turnovers for 26 points.
It was a balanced scoring attack for the Bluejays as seven players finished with eight points or higher. Chris Martin led way for Elmhurst totaling team-highs in points (15) and rebounds (seven). Ihlenfeldt finished with 11 points including 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. Nick Michael and Dave Gershenzon each finished with nine points. Brian Lee, Brent Ruch, and Robert Strzemp each finished with eight points.
With his 15 points, Martin moved into sixth-place on Elmhurst’s all-time leading scorer list with 1,415 points. He is the only player in school history to record over 1,000 points (1,415), 500 rebounds (702), 300 assists (304) and 100 steals (196).
UW-Superior was led by Leonard Cobb's game high 23 points (8-of-20 shooting) and seven rebounds. Brandon Elv chipped in with nine points in the loss.
Elmhurst will play in the championship game of the tournament, tomorrow (December 29). The Bluejays will face the winner of the Concordia University (Mich.) vs. Albion College (Ranked #6) game.