Whitewater, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team upset 11th-ranked UW-Whitewater 82-68 Wednesday night at the Kachel Gymnasium in Williams Center in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) opener for both teams.  The Eagles improve to 9-3 overall while the Warhawks, ranked 11th in this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, drops to 11-1 overall.
  
The win is the third straight for UWL over UW-Whitewater.  The Eagles swept the season series a year ago, winning 72-70 in overtime at home, and 74-68 at UW-Whitewater. 
 
The teams traded baskets in the first few minutes Wednesday, but a Ben Meinholz jumper gave the Eagles a 7-6 lead with 17:39 left in the half, and would never trailed again in the game. 
 
UWL led by as many as 13 points in the first half on three occasions, including 39-26 after a Ryan Kruser three-pointer with 4:52 left.  The Warhawks cut the lead to six at 40-34 with 2:07 in the half, but another Kruser three gave UWL a 43-34 lead at halftime. 
 
UWL maintained a double-digit margin for most of the second half.  UW-Whitewater got as close as eight points at 72-64 with 3:16 left, but the Eagles answered with a 10-0 run to put the game out of reach.
 
"We played a very complete game from start to finish," said UWL head coach Ken Koelbl.  "A great combination of focus, intensity, and execution.  We had a great number of players step up tonight."

UWL shot 54.7% (29-of-53) from the field, including 50.0% (six-of-12) from three-point range, and 66.7% (18-of-27) at the free throw line.  Austin Fritz led three Eagles in double-figures with 17 points, going eight-of-nine from the floor.  Kruser was four-of-six from three-point range and finished with 16 points, while Meinholz added 16 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and three steals for UWL. 
 
UW-Whitewater shot 50.0% from the field, including 23.1% (three-of-13) from three-point range, and 53.8% (seven-of-13) at the line.  Scotty Tyler and Demetrius Woodley had 17 points each to lead the Warhawks, while Andre Brown added 15. 

"Ryan hit some big three's early and Kenny Finco had a solid floor game," added Koelbl.  "Sean Wheeler provided a great spark off the bench, and wow, was Austin good on both ends.  I'm really proud of this group, they delivered tonight."  

UWL returns to action Saturday, January 7 hosting UW-Stevens Point at 5 p.m.