La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team earned a 74-67 victory over Coe College (Iowa) Saturday afternoon in Mitchell Hall.  The Eagles improve to 8-3 on the season while the Kohawks drop to 5-6.
 
The Eagles even the all-time series with Coe (Iowa), 2-2.  The Kohawks earned a 75-66 victory last season in Cedar Rapids. 
 
Coe (Iowa) led by as many as nine points in the first half at 26-17 with 6:55 remaining.  UWL then went on a 12-1 run capped by a Brendon Manning jumper to give the Eagles their first lead of the game at 29-27 with 4:05 left in the half.  The game was tied 34-34 going into halftime.
 
UWL started the second half on a 14-2 run and led 48-36 on a Kenny Finco layup with 13:56 remaining in the game.  A Ben Meinholz layup with 8:57 left gave UWL its biggest lead of 13 points at 58-45.  Coe (Iowa) answered with a 10-3 run cut the lead to 61-55 on a Matt Vonderhaar three-pointer with 4:53 left.  The Kohawks got to within four at 63-59 with 2:47 left on a Matt Meyer layup, but UWL scored the next five points and held on for the 74-67 win.
 
UWL shot 44.8% from the field, including 30.8% (four-of-13) from three-point range, and 78.3% (18-of-23) at the free throw line.  The Eagles had six turnovers while forcing the Kohawks into 22 turnovers.

Meinholz led the Eagles with 26 points on nine-of-17 from the floor, including two-of-three from three-point range, and six-of-nine at the line.  He also led the team with seven steals, seven rebounds, five assists, and three blocks.  The seven steals was one shy of the UWL school record of eight set by Willie Arnold (November 20, 1987 vs. St. Mary's University, Minn.), Bob Zenz (December 13, 1986 vs. Winona State University, Minn.) and Al Cherry (January 22, 2011 vs. UW-Eau Claire).  Finco tied a career-high adding 14 points for UWL Saturday.  Austin Fritz scored 10 points.   
 Coe (Iowa) shot 50.0% from the field, including 45.0% (nine-of-20) from three-point range, and 52.6% (10-of-19) at the line.  Nolan Timp recorded a double-double for the Kohawks, scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.  Vonderhaar added 15 points and nine rebounds. 
 
UWL opens Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Conference play Wednesday, January 4 at 16th-ranked UW-Whitewater at 7 p.m.