Stevens Point, Wis - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team snapped 24-game losing streak at UW-Stevens Point with a 61-57 victory Wednesday night in Quandt Fieldhouse. The Eagles improve to 12-4 overall and 5-0 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Pointers drop to 11-4 overall and 3-2 in the conference.

UW-Stevens Point entered the game ranked ninth on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll.

With the win, UWL remains in a first-place tie in the WIAC with UW-Oshkosh. The Eagles travel to face the fifth-ranked Titans on Saturday, January 19 at 5 p.m.

UWL earned its first win in Stevens Point since a 68-67 victory on February 4, 1998. The Eagles snapped a five-game overall losing streak to the Pointers with their victory Wednesday night. 

UWL head coach Kent Dernbach served as the associate head coach at UW-Stevens Point from 2011-17 and was the Pointers' interim head coach for the last 13 games of the 2016-17 season, leading the team to an 8-5 record.

The Pointers scored the first eight points of the game on Wednesday before the Eagles went on a 11-2 run. A pair of Garrett Nelson free throws with 11:24 left in the opening half gave UW-Stevens Point a 12-11 advantage, but Ethan Anderson's three-pointer with 10:57 remaining gave UWL a 14-12 lead. The Eagles led 18-16 with 8:41 left when they used a 10-0 run to lead, 28-16. Sam Burkart's layup with 2:15 remaining gave UWL its largest lead of the game at 32-18 before UW-Stevens Point cut its halftime deficit to 34-26.

UW-Stevens Point took a 44-42 lead with 11:47 remaining on a Canon O'Heron jumper before UWL used a 7-0 run to lead 49-44 with 7:43 left after Brendon Manning's layup. The Eagles led 55-53 when Ben Meinholz connected on a three-point field goal with 1:07 left to make it a five-point game. An Ethan Bublitz jumper with :52 left and Nate Dodge layup with :32 remaining cut the deficit to 58-57. Meinholz made one-of-two free throws with :11 left and after Bublitz missed a layup with :03 remaining and Brett Tauber turned the ball over, UWL's Tanner Bruchs finished the scoring with a layup at the buzzer. 

UWL shot 48.9% from the field, including 33.3% (four-of-12) from three-point range, and 91.7% (11-of-12) at the free throw line. The Eagles shot 56.5% (13-of-23) from the field in the first half. 

Meinholz led three players in double figures with 16 points while also adding four rebounds and four assists. Taulvish McCray and Manning each finished with 10 points while Manning had a game-high 13 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. 

UW-Stevens Point shot 37.3% from the field, including 28.6% (six-of-21) from three-point range, and 76.5% (13-of-17) at the line. Dodge led the Pointers with 18 points while Tauber finished with 11. O'Heron and Bublitz each had 10 points. 

UWL returns to action Saturday, January 19 at fifth-ranked UW-Oshkosh at 5 p.m.