Box Score Whitewater, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team fell 76-73 at second-ranked UW-Whitewater Friday night in Kachel Gym in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament Semifinals.  The Eagles finish their season at 17-10 while the Warhawks improve to 23-3 advance to play at top-ranked UW-Stevens Point Sunday, March 2 in the tournament championship game.

UW-Whitewater, the tournament second seed, led 16-13 with 11:45 left in the first half when it went on a 6-0 run to lead 22-13.  Third-seeded UW-L responded with a 14-4 run of its own to take a 27-26 advantage with 4:19 remaining on a Jared Staege layup.  The Warhawks led 32-29 with 2:50 left after a Reggie Hearn layup, but the Eagles finished the half scoring five of the last six points to lead 34-33 at halftime.  UW-L took the halftime lead on Calahan Skogman's three-point play with :04 left.

The Warhawks, ranked second on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, opened the second half on a 14-4 run to lead 47-38 with 13:31 remaining.  UW-Whitewater took its largest lead of the game at 61-49 with 7:57 left after a Eric Bryson layup, but UW-L quickly went on a 12-2 run to trail 63-61 with 4:26 remaining on a Luke Tweed jumper.

Hearn hit a pair of free throws with 3:38 left for a 65-61 lead before Tweed hit one-of-two at the line and Lucas Collom hit a jumper for the Eagles to cut the deficit to 65-64.  Alex Merg followed with a three-pointer with 2:36 remaining to give UW-Whitewater a 68-64 lead.  After a UW-L turnover, Bryson scored on a layup to make it 70-64 and after a missed three-point attempt by the Eagles, Merg made two free throws with 1:46 left for a 72-64 lead.

Skogman cut the lead to 72-66 with two free throws with 1:11 remaining and after a UW-Whitewater turnover, Braden Tice hit a three-point field goal with :32 left to make it 72-69.  Quardell Young made both free throws with :28 remaining before Skogman scored on a layup with :11 left to cut the lead to 74-71.  Hearn made two free throws with :09 remaining for a 76-71 advantage before Skogman scored on a layup at the final buzzer.

UW-L shot 48.1% from the field, including 33.3 (seven-of-21) from three-point range, and 88.9% (16-of-18) at the free throw line.

Skogman led the Eagles with a career-high 28 points, finishing eight-of-12 from the field, including three-of-five from three-point range, and nine-of-nine at the line.  He also had a team-high nine rebounds. Staege finished with 12 points and four assists while Collom had 10 points.

Tweed totaled nine points while Tice finished with eight with both players going two-of-five from three-point range.

UW-Whitewater shot 54.5% from the field, including 30.8% (four-of-13) from three-point range, and 70.6% (12-of-17) at the line.

KJ Evans led four Warhawks in double figures with 19 points.  He also had seven rebounds. Hearn finished with 18 points and eight rebounds while Merg totaled 16 points and Bryson 10.