Box Score Whitewater, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team fell 68-67 in the final seconds to number-one ranked UW-Whitewater Saturday night in Kachel Gymnasium.  The Eagles drop to 8-12 overall and 3-8 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Warhawks improve to 18-2 overall and 11-0 in the conference. 
 
The Eagles led by as many as eight points in the first half.  Johnny Coenen hit a layup with 4:17 remaining to put UW-L up 30-22.  KJ Evans answered with a jumper for the Warhawks to cut it to six, but Kenny Finco came right back with a jumper of his own with 3:31 left to put the lead back to eight at 32-24.  A Quardell Young fastbreak layup capped a 5-0 run for UW-Whitewater to end the half, but UW-L still led 32-29 at the break.
 
In the second half, UW-Whitewater built an eight point lead on a Ruhjan Muhammad jumper with 7:58 remaining to make the score 58-50.  UW-L went on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 58-58 on Coenen's three-pointer with 5:47 left. 
 
The Warhawks, ranked first on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, answered with an 8-2 run, and led 66-60 on a Young jumper at the 2:49 mark.  The Eagles came right back with a 7-0 run capped by a pair of free throws from Sean Wheeler to take the lead at 67-66 with :20 left.   
 
On the next possession, Young hit a layup for the Warhawks with :09 left to give them the 68-67 advantage.  UW-L had one last chance, but Coenen's jumper was blocked by Young with :02 remaining, and UW-Whitewater held on for the win.   
 
UW-L shot 46.9% from the field, including 50.0% (13-of-26) from three-point range, and 80.0% (eight-of-10) at the free throw line.  Jared Staege led four players in double-figures for the Eagles with 18 points and also had a team-high five rebounds.  Wheeler added a career-high 14 points, while Coenen had 13 points, tying his career-high, and also added four rebounds.  Tom Jankowski had a career-high 12 points, and Milton Cummings led the team with four assists.       

UW-Whitewater shot 55.1% from the field, including 35.3% (six-of-17) from three-point range, and 53.3% (eight-of-15) at the line.  Young led all scorers with 21 points and added a team-high seven assists.  Evans added 17 points and led the Warhawks with eight rebounds.      

UW-L returns to action Wednesday, February 4 at UW-Stout at 7 p.m.