Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall guard Davion Xayarath (31) knocks down a jump shot over a New Ulm defender during the first half of a Big South Conference boys basketball game on Tuesday in Marshall.

MARSHALL — Oliver Voigt’s 36-point double-double wasn’t enough for the Marshall boys basketball team to survive New Ulm in a Big South Conference matchup on Tuesday night. The Tigers overcame a double-digit first-half deficit to lead as late as eight minutes into the second half, but New Ulm pulled away to down the Tigers 84-74.

Voigt carried the brunt of the scoring load for Marshall, ending the night with 36 points on 14 of 26 shooting from the field and a pair of 3-pointers. His 10 total and five offensive rebounds were also both game-highs, as were his two blocks.

Voigt’s scoring leap this year has in part come due to Marshall’s emphasis on its players getting to their spots, getting in actions and getting into the paint to create opportunities, Marshall head coach Travis Carroll said, adding that the Tigers need to do a better job of recognizing when their opponents are looking to double-team.

Levi Hopp finished the game as New Ulm’s leading scorer with 22 points on 8 of 17 shooting while Mitchell Hopp added another 18 points on 7 of 13 shooting. Levi was also the Eagles’ leader in rebounds with seven and assists with three. Owen Castleman also heated up in the second half to finish with 15 points

Trailing by 5 points five minutes into the second half, New Ulm surged ahead after calling a timeout. Levi Hopp knocked down a pull-up jumper and Mitchell Hopp and Noah Mertz got to the cup on consecutive possessions to tie the game up at 54-points apiece.

Andrew Lee jumped into a passing lane to knock away a New Ulm pass, tiptoeing along the sideline to stay in bounds before flipping the ball over his head to Voigt to put Marshall back on top. Voigt also drove the baseline for a layup on the Tigers’ next possession, but Hopp answered the buckets with a 3 and a midrange jumper to give the Eagles the lead, and Zach Hubbard followed with a layup to put New Ulm on top 60-57.

Marshall tried to stem the tide by calling a timeout with seven minutes remaining, but it was no use. The Eagles remained on top for the remainder of the game, going up by 13 points with two minutes to play and holding on from there for a 10-point victory.

“[Levi and Mitchell Hopp are] very talented players and we didn’t do a good enough job of keeping them out of the paint,” Carroll said. “We did not do a good enough job of working through the adjustments we were trying to make during the game to try to keep them out of the paint, so that’s … something we need to continue to work on.”

Holding a 2-point lead early in the game, New Ulm picked up some early momentum with a 11-2 run to build a 27-16 lead with eight-and-a-half minutes left in the half.

Tanner Backer sparked the run with a 3-pointer and Mertz followed up with a pair of free throws to extend the New Ulm lead to 7 points. Joey Wise kept it going with a layup and, after Noah Pieper got Marshall back on the board, a pair of layups from Castleman and Hubbard brought the New Ulm edge to 11 points.

Still, the Tigers weren’t ready to give up yet. Facing a 7-point deficit with three minutes remaining, Voigt knocked down a free throw and a layup and then swatted away a shot on the defensive end to set up a Pieper transition bucket to trim the deficit to 2 points.

Carroll attributed the Tigers’ surge to its ability to get defensive stops and rebound defensively, adding that the second- and third-chance opportunities were early killers for Marshall.

Voigt then came up with another big shot defense before hitting a 3 to give Marshall its first lead of the day, 35-34, when New Ulm called a timeout with 90 seconds to play in the half. Still, New Ulm responded with 7 unanswered points before Voigt hit a 3 at the buzzer, sending the Eagles into a locker room with a 41-38 lead despite Voigt’s 17 points.

Levi Maeyaert got off to a hot start in the second half, hitting a tying 3 on the first possession and knocking down another off a feed from Davion Xayarath to give the Tigers the lead. Marshall went on to lead by 5 points before New Ulm regained control of the game.

Marshall (6-6) looks to get back to .500 when it goes on the road to take on Class 2A No. 1 Belle Plaine (10-1) on Friday at 7:15 p.m. Belle Plaine defeated Marshall 82-69 when they last met on Dec. 31.