La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team earned an 80-60 victory over Carroll University (Wis.) Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall.  The Eagles improve to 7-2 on the season, while the Pioneers drop to 2-7. 
 
UWL now leads the all-time series 8-1 with Carroll (Wis.).  The teams met Wednesday for the first time since the Eagles earned an 84-64 home win during the 2009-10 season. 
 
UWL used a 10-0 run early in the first half to take a 12-3 lead with 13 minutes to play on a Brendon Manning layup.  Minutes later, the Eagles used a 15-4 run and pulled ahead 27-9 at the 6:09 mark.  UWL had its biggest lead of the half at 34-14 with 2:54 left on a Sam Skoyen layup.  The Eagles led 34-16 at the half. 
 
A Ben Meinholz layup put UWL ahead by 20 points again to begin the second half, and UWL never looked back.  The Eagles led by as many as 33 points on a three pointer from Terek Nesheim to make it 65-32 with 8:45 left to play, and again at 68-65 on a three-point play from Milton Cummings to make it 68-35 at the 7:19 mark.  UWL coasted to the 80-60 win. 

UWL shot a season high 59.6% (31-of-52) from the field, including 44.4% (eight-of-18) from three-point range, and 83.3% (10-of-12) at the free throw line.  Meinholz led four starters in double-figures with 14 points, also with a team-high four assists and two blocks.  Manning, Tanner Bruchs, and Nolan Wright all added 12 points for the Eagles, while Cummings and Wright each had four rebounds to lead UWL.    
 
Carroll (Wis.) shot 42.0% from the field, including 25.0% (three-of-12) from three-point range, and 71.4% (15-of-21) at the line.  Troy Howat led the Pioneers with 12 points in 11 minutes off the bench.
 
UWL returns to action Friday-Saturday, December 29-30 at the Music City Classic in Nashville, Tennessee.  The Eagles face Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham (N.J.) December 29 at 1 p.m. and Lynchburg College (Va.) December 30 at 5 p.m.