ESCANABA — It was a tough first night on the hardwood for the Escanaba Eskymos as they fell 54-35 to Negaunee here Tuesday. The Miners led 26-21 at halftime. David Juchemich got the first points of the second half for Negaunee on a pair of free throws and Tristan Slater drove to the basket for a layup to extend the Miners lead to 30-21. Slater had 17 points on the night for the Miners.

Escanaba senior Braeden Cooper hit a 3-pointer from the wing to cut the deficit to 34-26. Cooper scored six of the eight points in the third quarter and led the Eskymos with 18 points on the night.

The Eskymos had a hard time getting the ball in the basket as the opening night woes plagued the Eskymos.

“We couldn’t buy a basket tonight,” Eskymos coach Jake Berlinsky said. “We really struggled shooting the

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