Box Score La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team earned a 71-47 victory over city rival Viterbo University (Wis.) Tuesday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles improve to 2-3 on the season while the V-Hawks drop to 3-5. It is UWL's 10th win in the last 11 meetings with Viterbo (Wis.). The Eagles now lead the Alumni Cup series, 17-10.
The 24-point margin is the largest in the series between the teams since UWL's 71-45 victory in 2006.
UWL never trailed in Tuesday's game, racing out to a 14-4 lead with 14:07 left in the first half on
Austin Fritz' three-point play. The V-Hawks scored the next seven points to cut the deficit to 14-11, but the Eagles went on a 7-0 run to lead 21-11. Viterbo (Wis.) cut the lead to four points on two occasions, including 25-21 with 4:16 left before UWL's
Lucas Collom and
Jared Staege scored on back-to-back layups to make it 29-21. UWL led 29-23 at halftime.
The Eagles opened the second half scoring five of the first seven points to lead 34-25 with 17:54 remaining after a
Devin Yurk three-pointer. Viterbo (Wis.) cut the advantage to 34-29 on a Jared Flescihmann layup, but UWL went on a 11-1 run to lead 45-30 with 9:52 left in the game. The V-Hawks could get no closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
UWL shot 51.9% from the field, including 33.3% (five-of-15) from three-point range, and 71.4% (10-of-14) at the free throw line. UWL shot 57.7% (15-of-26) from the field in the second half. The Eagles finished with a season-high 17 assists and season-low 13 turnovers.
Yurk led three players in double figures with 17 points, going six-of-nine from the field, including three-of-five from three-point range. He was two-of-two at the line. Fritz had a season-high 13 points, finishing four-of-eight from the field and five-of-seven at the free throw line, while
Ben Meinholz totaled 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Collom had seven points and five rebounds while Staege finished with seven points, team-high six assists and four rebounds. Five players recorded at least five rebounds in the game.
Viterbo (Wis.) shot 35.7% from the field, including 16.7% (three-of-18) from three-point range, and 66.7% (six-of-nine) at the line. Viterbo (Wis.) shot 28.1% (nine-of-32) from the field in the second half, including 11.1% (one-of-nine) from three-point range. Jake Bamke led the V-Hawks with 10 points.
UWL returns to action Monday, November 30 at Loras College (Iowa) at 7 p.m.
