La Crosse, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team held off a late surge from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls to win 66-65 Wednesday night at Mitchell Hall.
 
The win moves UWL to 13-5 overall and 6-1 in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) action. UWRF falls to 8-10 overall and 1-6 in WIAC play.
 

After UWL took a 66-60 (2:05) lead on two free throws by Brendon Manning, UW-River Falls pulled to within 66-65 (1:02) on a three-pointer by Matt Keller. UWL would miss the front end of a bonus free throw with :14 left, but a missed jumper by UW-River Falls with :04 left sealed the win for the Eagles.
 
After trailing 35-31 with 17:16 on the clock in the second half, UWL went on a 15-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 46-35 with 14:14 left. Ben Meinholz sparked the run for the Eagles scoring eight points including back-to-back three-pointers. UW-River Falls would use a 9-1 run midway through the second half to cut its deficit to 58-56 with 5:51 remaining.
 
The Falcons led for most of the first half after jumping out to a 9-2 early lead. UWL would tie the game at nine and again at 13 (10:36) before UW-River Falls took a 19-15 lead (7:30). The Eagles would pull within 24-23 (1:50) before the Falcons scored five of the final nine points to lead 29-27 at the half.
 
The Eagles finished the contest shooting 25-of-61 (41.0%) from the floor, including six-of-20 (30.0%) from three-point range and 10-of-14 (71.4%) from the free throw line. Manning led the Eagles with his sixth double-double of the season as he finished with a game-high 23 points and 12 rebounds. Meinholz chipped in 14 points while Tanner Bruchs finished with 10. Meinholz and Manning have now scored 10 or more points in 11 games for the Eagles.
 
UW-River Falls finished 27-of-53 (50.9%) from the floor, including five-of-15 (33.3%) from three-point range and six-of-12 (50.0%) at the line. The Falcons finished with a 40-32 advantage in rebounds. Keller and Austin Heidecker led the Falcons with 14 points each while Julian Jackson finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.
 
UWL will kick off the second half of the WIAC season Saturday, January 26 at UW-Whitewater. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.  UWL earned a 75-60 victory over UW-Whitewater on January 12 in La Crosse.